Economy

The Future of the Automotive Sector
BMW Cuts Forecast – Points to China and Iran War

The German automotive giant BMW cuts its profitability forecast for the full year and expands its savings program for 2026. Bloomberg reports.

The automotive giant now expects an operating margin in its automotive operations of 1-3 percent. Previously, the forecast was up to 6 percent.

The reason is a deteriorating market situation in China and a reduced willingness to buy linked to the war in the Middle East, the company says.

Oil market
Oil below $80 for the first time in three months

Oil prices fell again on Tuesday, falling below $80 per barrel for the first time in three months, CNBC reports.

At 8 p.m., crude oil fell below $80 for the first time since March and was trading around $79 per barrel, while WTI oil was at $76 per barrel.

One of the reasons is reports that the United States will allow Iran to resume its oil exports immediately within the framework of the peace agreement, according to the news agency. The Wall Street Journal also has similar information.

Food prices
ECB economist: Higher inflation awaits despite agreement

The inflation triggered by the war in the Middle East has not yet fully taken hold. ECB chief economist Philip Lane warns of this, according to Reuters.

He believes that Europe must be prepared for continued price increases, even though the United States and Iran have now reached a preliminary peace agreement.

After four months of rising energy prices, inflation could rise above 3 percent.

– It will indirectly hit food prices, goods, services this year and next year, he says.

Peace talks
Source: Giant fund part of Iran deal – 150 billion secured

An investment fund worth 300 billion dollars, equivalent to 2826 billion kronor, is included in the peace deal. More than half of the amount has already been secured, a source told Reuters.

The fund aims to increase investment in Iran and to give both parties financial incentives to reach a final agreement, the news agency writes.

The capital will come from private companies in, among others, the United States, the Gulf States, Asia, South America and Africa and will be invested in energy, logistics, manufacturing and transportation.

The AI ​​race
Musk buys Swedish-founded Anysphere for 565 billion

The space company SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, is moving forward and buying the software company Anysphere in a deal worth the equivalent of 565 billion kronor. This is reported by several international media outlets.

Anysphere's investors will be paid in Space X shares, writes Bloomberg. The deal is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year.

Anysphere, with Swede Arvid Lunnemark as co-founder, is behind the popular AI coding tool Cursor. The newly minted dollar billionaire Lunnemark left Anysphere in October 2025 but retained 4.5 percent of the shares, today valued at around 25 billion kronor.

The wage gap
Study: AI competence can raise wages by 62 percent

Employees who have come a long way in AI can receive significantly higher wages than others. This is shown by a report from the consulting giant PWC, which SvD refers to.

According to the report, the average salary for jobs that require AI skills can be 62 percent higher than for comparable jobs. Behind the development is higher productivity and faster growth, according to PWC.

The trend is particularly clear in the technology sector, media, telecom and energy.

– Quite simply, you can produce more with the same resources, and then have the opportunity to pay higher salaries, says Lisa Haglund, says PWC's Lisa Haglund. 

Cyberattacks
Hackers report data breach at Novo – ransom refused

The criminal hacker group Fulcrumsec claims to have stolen over a terabyte of data from the Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk. This is reported by Reuters.

The group is now threatening to sell parts of the material, after Novo Nordisk refused to pay a ransom equivalent to 235 million kronor.

Fulcrumsec claims that it has had access to Novo Nordisk's network for more than two months and has obtained, among other things, source code, information about both launched and unlaunched drugs, research data, and information about employees, doctors, and patients.

Novo Nordisk has not yet commented on the information.

Funds' investments
The Petroleum Fund's new record: 22,000 billion

The Norwegian Petroleum Fund passed 22,000 billion Norwegian kroner for the first time on Tuesday, several media outlets note. This corresponds to almost the same amount in Swedish kronor.

The record came after Monday's stock market plunge on Wall Street in the wake of the peace agreement between Iran and the US, writes TT.

By 11.15, the fund's value had slipped below the record level again.

Saab's sales
Saab sells anti-tank weapons to France

Saab has received an order for the NLAW anti-tank weapon from the French procurement authority for defense equipment, according to a press release.

- With NLAW, we are providing the French army with a completely new level of anti-tank capability, says Görgen Johansson, head of Saab's business area dynamics, in a statement.

Deliveries are planned for 2026-2030, but no order value is disclosed.