The Stockholm Stock Exchange opened significantly lower in Maundy Thursday trading.

As of 09:23 CET, the OMXS30 index was down 1.75 percent at 2,953.70. Adjusted for dividends, the OMXS30 index also fell by 1.75 percent. Shares worth approximately SEK 1.8 billion changed hands on the Stockholm bourse.

Energy was the best-performing major industrial sector, posting a gain of 2.55 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, basic materials lagged the market, dropping 2.28 percent.

Among the blue-chip stocks included in the OMXS30 index, Astra Zeneca rose 0.8 percent while Telia gained 0.7 percent. Boliden saw the weakest performance, falling 4.1 percent, while Sandvik declined 3.6 percent.

Overnight, Swedish time, U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a televised address to the nation. Trump claimed the country is heading toward "total victory" in the war in Iran. He stated that the end of the war is approaching and presented a timeline of 2-3 weeks. In the meantime, he intends to continue bombing Iran "back to the Stone Age where they belong," Trump said. The speech lasted 19 minutes, and several analysts described the appearance as lacking substance. However, it met with a negative reception on the equity markets.

Sweden plans to purchase air defense and anti-drone systems for SEK 8.7 billion from suppliers including Saab and BAE Systems, according to Defense Minister Pål Jonson. Saab shares retreated 2.8 percent.

Investment firm Flat Capital is selling a large portion of its passive AI and software-related holdings for SEK 720 million, realizing a profit of SEK 526 million. The divestments consist of entire positions in OpenAI, ElevenLabs, Lovable, Cerebras Systems, and Alpaca, as well as more than half of its stake in Perplexity. Flat fell 1.3 percent.

Handelsbanken will report a positive one-off revenue item of SEK 1.1 billion in the first quarter of 2025 due to a VAT reversal. The announcement was made shortly after Wednesday's close. Handelsbanken's A-shares slipped 0.4 percent.

Automaker Volvo Cars reported global sales of 153,316 cars during the first quarter of 2026, representing an 11 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2025. The stock pulled back 1.9 percent.

Pharmaceutical company Astra Zeneca reports that the combination of Imfinzi and Imjudo, together with lenvatinib and TACE, improved progression-free survival in the Phase 3 Emerald-3 trial for liver cancer. A positive trend for overall survival was also noted. Astra Zeneca rose 0.9 percent.

DNB Carnegie upgrades Assa Abloy to Buy (Hold) with a target price of SEK 375 (400). Assa Abloy fell 1.2 percent.

Pareto Securities upgrades Atlas Copco to Buy (Hold) with a target price of SEK 205 (200). Atlas A-shares retreated 2.1 percent.

SEB downgrades Biogaia to Hold (Buy) with a target price of SEK 130 (122). Biogaia dropped 3 percent.