Economy

Inflation in the euro zone turned up to 2.6 percent

Inflation in the eurozone turned up to 2.6 percent in May from 2.4 percent in April, preliminary data from Eurostat shows.

Although analysts had expected a rise, the outcome was higher than feared, according to Bloomberg, Reuters and Trading Economics polls.

Core inflation also increased more than expected by 2.9 percent, from 2.7 percent in April. The services sector saw the biggest price increase in May with inflation at 4.1 percent year-on-year.

The inflation announcement comes ahead of next week's interest rate announcement from the ECB, where the central bank is still expected to begin its rate-cutting cycle. On the other hand, today's announcement increases the uncertainty about how quickly the ECB will dare to lower the interest rate during the rest of the year, writes the FT.

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Today's stock market
The stock market around zero – BHG and Camurus take off

The Stockholm Stock Exchange is trading in anticipation of this afternoon's inflation figures from the US. At 11.10 it looks like this:
• OMXSPI: -0.3%
• OMXS30: -0.1%
The index retreated marginally as Eurozone CPI numbers came in higher than expected at 11am. The next stop is 14.30 when the US PCE report is released.

Nibe tops the OMXS30 with a rise of 1.5 percent, while Hexagon drops 2 percent to the bottom.

Saab has received an order of SEK 7.7 billion and is being traded up by just over 2 percent.

Gaming company MTG retreats 5 percent after ABG scrapped its buy recommendation for the stock. The beauty company Lyko falls 9 percent in the wake of a sell advice from Aktiespararna.

Camurus has received a sharply increased target price from Nordea, which sends the share up 4 percent. BHG in turn lifts 14 percent since Carnegie raised its recommendation to buy.

The New York stock exchanges yesterday
• S&P 500: −0.6%
• Nasdaq: −1.1%
• Dow Jones: –0.9%