Economy

US growth
Inflation in the US declines in April – in line with expectations

American inflation measured in CPI retreated to 3.4 percent annualized in April, compared to 3.5 percent in March. Core inflation also fell back to 3.6 percent from 3.8 percent in March.

Both CPI figures were in line with the Trading Economics consensus estimate. Core inflation is now at the lowest level since 2021, writes the Wall Street Journal.

Two consumer goods rose in April: housing costs and fuel. Combined, the two categories contributed more than 70 percent of the total price increase in the month of April, writes the US Department of Labor Statistics.

New York stock markets rise in pre-trade.

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Swedish inflation
"The fight against inflation has definitely succeeded"

The fight against inflation has definitely succeeded and the Riksbank may have to lower the interest rate more than twice this year. This is what Nordnet savings economist Frida Bratt writes at X.

Swedbank's head of forecasting, Andreas Wallström, notes that the underlying inflation for the past six months is a "paltry 1.5 percent", if you add up the monthly figures at an annual rate.

"Unfortunately, we still can't hope for a reduction in June [...]. Our forecast is that the Riksbank will delay the second reduction until September," he writes.

Nordea's analyst Gustav Helgesson notes that the inflation figures for April were clearly lower than the Riksbank's main forecast, but in line with the central bank's alternative scenario.

In the low-inflation scenario he is referring to, the Riksbank has flagged that the policy rate can be lowered to 2.50 percent already this year. 

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Today's stock market
The stock market closed close to zero after the US inflation figure

The Stockholm stock exchange traded around zero on Wednesday, where most of the time it was about inflation. At closing, the development was:
• OMXSPI: +0.3%
• OMXS30: –0.2%
The main number of the day was US inflation, which was released during the afternoon. As expected, core inflation shifted down from 3.8 percent annualized in March to 3.6 percent in April, which pleased international stock exchanges. For Sweden, inflation rose less than expected from 2.2 to 2.3 percent at an annual rate, according to KPIF.

On the company side, Getinge has updated its financial targets up to and including 2028. But these were judged to be too concrete and were described by Pareto Securities as a " ". The stock fell 12 percent and was the worst performer in the large-cap index.

Föll also made Nibe ahead of Thursday's interim report. The stock closed roughly 5 percent lower.

Bioarctic's partner Eisai expects revenues of around 4 billion for the drug Leqimbi in the next year, which would mean royalty income of 360 million to Bioarctic. The stock rose 14 percent.

Eolus Vind's turnover plummeted 84 percent and the loss more than doubled because no new sales were completed during the quarter. The stock lost 5 percent.

Small saver favorite Soltech's revenue fell by 25 percent and the operating loss more than doubled. The stock plummeted 20 percent.