The Stockholm Stock Exchange rose on Thursday as the reporting season slowly got underway. The performance was better than that of leading European stock exchanges. In the spotlight, Swedbank and Sandvik were the report winners for the day.

At the close, the OMXS30 index was up 0.93 percent to a record 2,672.65. Shares worth around SEK 26.0 billion were traded on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.

The best performance among the stock exchange's major industrial sectors was in finance, with a rise of 2.1 percent. At the other end of the scale, consumer staples were at the bottom with minus 3.7 percent.

Among the leading shares, which are included in the OMXS30 index, Sandvik rose 8.8% while SBB B was up 6.4%. Essity was the worst performer, down 6.7%, while Evolution was down 0.8%.

Swedbank was the first of the major banks to report and the figures were stronger than expected across the board. The board of directors raised the dividend policy and increased the dividend by 43 percent to SEK 21.70 per share, which was significantly higher than expected. The share rose 4.2 percent.

The engineering company Sandvik reports sales in line with expectations in the fourth quarter. The adjusted ebita profit was slightly higher than expected. The Board proposes an increased ordinary dividend. Order intake was 3% higher than expected.

The hygiene and health company Essity's report showed a lower adjusted ebita profit than expected. The dividend is proposed to be increased by 6.5% to SEK 8.25 per share. CEO Magnus Groth announced his intention to step down after ten years as CEO.

Investor's adjusted net asset value amounted to SEK 317 per share. At the same time, the company announced a dividend increase of 8.3 percent. The share fell 0.5 percent.

Private equity firm EQT is also a report winner. Here the dividend is increased by just over 19 percent to SEK 4.30 per share. The share rose 8.9 percent.

Camurus issued a reverse profit warning for the fourth quarter and full year. The share rose 0.8 percent.

Investment company Creades reported a net asset value of SEK 75 per share (68) at the end of the year, an increase of 10.3 percent compared to the same time last year. The Board of Directors proposes an unchanged dividend of SEK 1.60 per share (1.60), paid quarterly at a rate of 40 öre per share per quarter. The share rose 1.1 percent.

Life science investment company Linc increased its net asset value per share to SEK 83.4 in the fourth quarter (60.9). Return per share amounted to 4.6 percent (16.1), up from SEK 79.8 per share in Q3. The share fell 3.7 percent.

On the analysis front, Evolution was downgraded to sell from hold by Deutsche Bank, which also lowered the target price to SEK 798 from SEK 1,071.

Invisio was lowered to hold from buy by SEB, which at the same time raised the target price to SEK 345 from 310. The share rose 1.1 percent.

Carnegie lowers Paradox to 'hold' from 'buy' and reiterates the target price of SEK 225. The share fell 6.3 percent.

Affärsvärlden gives a neutral rating to software company Formpipe Software after the profit warning, and the share rose 3.8 percent.