Stockholm stock market expected to rise slightly
The Stockholm stock exchange rose slightly when it opened on Tuesday after falling almost five percent on Monday, due in large part to US President Donald Trump's tariffs which looked set to spark a global trade war.
The exchange's OMXS index rose by 1.9 percent in early trading.
Last week, Wall Street and the Stockholm stock exchange alike fell 9 percent.
Savings experts advised Swedes to hold their breath and wait before selling their stocks or funds. The only situation in which you may want to sell urgently is if you need the money in the next two years, but funds should in any case be reserved for long-term savings.
"Things could turn around and if you're then out of the American market, you'll also miss the recovery," Nordnet's economist Frida Bratt told the TT news agency.
Swedish vocabulary: börs ‒ stock exchange
Price of coffee in Sweden reaches a record high
Coffee in Sweden is now "record high," according to producers and sellers, with both sides blaming each other for the rise.
According to Ulf Mazur from price comparison site Matpriskollen, the price of coffee in stores has risen by 10 percent over the last two months, with further hikes expected this week. Producers and sellers both say that the raw price of coffee is to blame ‒ in part due to climate changes affecting the harvest in Brazil, the world's largest producer of coffee beans.
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Anders Thorén, head of communications at Löfbergs coffee company, said that the raw price of coffee has risen by 100 percent in the last six months. Producers argue that supermarkets are hiking the price of coffee for consumers, while supermarkets blame the producers for hiking their prices.
Both sides are however in agreement that the higher prices are here to stay.
"In general, it takes around 3-4 months [for coffee to go up for sale] after we buy it from the country of production," Thorén said, while pointing out that the price of coffee per cup is still only around one or two kronor.
Swedish vocabulary: råvarupriset ‒ the price of raw materials
Property prices rose in March, but future is uncertain
The price of apartments rose by 1.1 percent month-on-month across Sweden in March, with house prices seeing a very slight rise of just 0.1 percent. Year-on-year however, apartment prices fell by 4.2 percent last month.
These figures were registered before the substantial drop on stock markets worldwide due to President Donald Trump's tariffs.
In theory, unstable stock markets could cause prices on the property market to drop, but Erik Wikander, deputy CEO for estate agent Svensk Fastighetsförmedling, told the TT newswire that it's difficult to predict exactly what could happen.
"It's possible we'll see this reflected in the April and May figures, but in reality we know very little about whether this will happen or if it's just something he's saying as part of negotiations," he told TT about the effect of tariffs on the property market.
He predicts that prices will continue to rise this year, albeit slower than expected.
"If we were looking at a price increase of around 5-7 percent a few months ago, we're maybe looking at 3-5 percent now," he said.
Swedish vocabulary: förhandlingsutspel ‒ a statement made as part of negotiations
How are Swedes reacting to the stock market fall?
Many Swedes have savings in funds or stocks, and are reacting to the fall in the stock market by moving their savings.
"We can see a lot of small savers moving to funds with a lower risk, most of all fixed income funds," said Philip Scholtzé from investment platform Avanza. "Interest has increased for long-term and short-term fixed income funds."
A lot of savers also chose to sell their funds last month when the markets started to drop.
"People sold high risk funds, usually pure stock funds with a global focus. Many of them are American with a tech focus."
Frida Bratt, an economist at investment platform Nordnet, said that there was a clear increase in people buying funds based in Europe.
"For the first time we're seeing European funds increase. Europe has been out in the cold for a long time, but we're seeing trends change as to where people are putting their money," she said.
European stocks, like defence companies and banks, have also risen, while many investors have sold their American stocks.
"Lots of people have sold their shares in Coca-Cola, which has remained relatively stable. Coca-Cola is a strong American symbol and people getting rid of their stocks could have something to do with them just not wanting to be linked to the US," Bratt said.
Swedish vocabulary: man vill inte förknippas med något ‒ one does not want to be linked to something
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