The EU Commission announced on Tuesday that it hopes to allocate equivalent to 9,000 billion kronor for defense investments. Among other things, member states will be exempt from budget rules to upgrade.
The news caused the defense company Saab's stock to start climbing from zero to cautiously enter the plus side.
The Stockholm Stock Exchange, whose broad index was down 1.7 percent after nearly an hour of trading, is not alone in being pressured. Other leading European markets are also declining in morning trading.
The decline on the Stockholm Stock Exchange is broad. On the large-cap list, in addition to Saab, the hygiene company Essity and pharmaceutical giant Astra Zeneca are up 1.2 and 0.9 percent, respectively.
The US's planned tariffs against Mexico, Canada, and China have now taken effect, while both Canada and China are responding with their own tariffs against the US.
During the night, the tariff decisions made an impact on the leading Asian markets, which mostly closed on the minus side.
