Slow start for stocks and falling krona

The Stockholm stock exchange took a minor tumble on Thursday morning in the wake of fresh falls on Asian and US markets, while the Swedish krona fell sharply against the euro and the dollar.

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After 45 minutes of trading, the OMXS index had dropped 2 percent.

Sweden's major banks dragged the market down following reports that fewer analysts were recommending their clients to buy the banks' stocks.

According to SEB chief economist Robert Bergqvist, falling rates on global markets do not amount to a failing grade for the recent raft of crisis packages.

"What the exchanges are reacting to right now is the economy and the fact that we are on our way into a period of low growth where we don't know how long and deep it's going to be," he told the TT news agency.

The economist also expected the weakening of the krona against the euro to be a major topic of discussion.

The cost of the euro reached its highest ever point on Thursday morning, coming in at 10.12 kronor.

"In 2001 it was up near the ten kronor mark. But there doesn't appear to be a great amount of trading," said Bergqvist.

The dollar also strengthened against the krona on Thursday morning, hitting its highest level since 2006 at 7.58 kronor. And the Danish krone is stronger against the Swedish krona than at any time since 1995.