Economy

Middle East Crisis  Economic Impact
Rising interest rates and more expensive loans worry export companies

Rising interest rates have quickly emerged as a new cloud of worry for Swedish export companies. Instead of believing in falling interest rates, companies are counting on rising interest rates, while at the same time experiencing that their borrowing costs have become more expensive. This is shown by the latest Export Credit Barometer from Swedish Export Credit (SEK), according to a press release.

The potential effects of the Iran war on the economy are behind the major changes, says SEK's Head of Macro Analysis Erik Hådén.

– The fact that fewer people believe in interest rate cuts and more people believe in interest rate increases is a natural consequence of the war in Iran, whose effects on inflation make it more difficult for central banks to lower interest rates, he says in a statement.

Oil Market
Oil prices turn up after reports of new Iran move

Oil prices turn sharply from minus 1 percent minus to a couple of percent up on Thursday afternoon. Shortly before the sudden move, Reuters reported that the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei had ordered that the country's highly enriched uranium should not leave the country.

At 13:15, fuel oil is up nearly 2 percent to just over $107 per barrel, while American WTI oil is trading up 1.7 percent to just over $100.

The flood of reports
Nvidia's new record report received a lukewarm reception

The world's most valued listed company Nvidia delivered another record quarter. Profit tripled in the first quarter of fiscal 2027, while sales rose 85 percent to a record $81.6 billion, which was clearly above expectations.

The expansion of AI continues to drive demand for Nvidia's chips.

- The expansion of AI factories - the largest infrastructure expansion in human history - is accelerating at an exceptional pace, says CEO Jensen Huang in the report.

The chip giant also raised its forecast for the current quarter more than experts had expected.

At the same time, the technology giant announced a sharply increased dividend and a share buyback of $80 billion, measures that usually push up the share price.

Despite the positive news, the stock fell a few percent in US after-hours trading last night.

The future of defense
Dismisses criticism: "Fighting drones in the Red Sea"

Drones may be the Achilles heel of the new Swedish frigates, according to experts that DN spoke to. The French manufacturer Naval Group dismisses the criticism. The FDI frigates have an anti-drone system, according to sales manager Guillaume Weisrock.

“The French Navy has successfully fought drones with our frigates in the Red Sea,” he tells the newspaper.