Almost all companies on the OMXS30 list of most traded shares showed red figures. The real estate company SBB was among the large companies that lost the most, over 5 percent.
Automotive manufacturers such as AB Volvo, Volvo Cars, and Scania's owner Traton fell sharply, down 2.6-5.9 percent. This followed a series of interim reports from German automotive manufacturers - Volkswagen, BMW, and Daimler Trucks - which showed a tough industry situation with declining demand and intense competition from China.
The development in Stockholm is in line with leading European stock exchanges. London had fallen by over 1 percent by 17.30 and Paris and Frankfurt had dropped by over 2 percent.
The British central bank's expected interest rate cut, by 0.25 percentage points to 5.00, had no major reactions on the stock exchanges.
In Asia, the Nikkei index in Tokyo fell sharply overnight, minus 2.5 percent. This came after the Japanese yen had increased in value following Wednesday's interest rate hike - the first in 17 years - by the country's central bank.
