Shares of AB SKF (STO:publ) last traded at 186, representing a move of 0.87%, or 1.6 per share, on volume of 5,513 shares. After opening the trading day at 186, shares of AB SKF traded in a close range. AB SKF currently has a total float of 450.38 million shares and on average sees 7,312 shares exchange hands each day. The stock now has a 52-week low of 154.5 and high of 201.5.

The Swedish Equity Market
Sweden is known around the world for a lot of global brands. However, there is so much beyond those that Sweden is rarely linked to or acknowledged for.

What most people don’t know is that Sweden is also home to one of the best economies in all of Europe. With good corporate governance and a healthy trade and commerce environment, the Swedish economy is immensely growing to become more and more influential regionally and globally. It influence spread on the companies at the market like AB SKF. Through time, it has been established that Sweden is one of the most valuable contributors to the growth of the European economy.

The Stock Exchange
In Sweden, the Stockholm Stock Exchange or Nasdaq Stockholm is the main stock exchange situated in Frihamnen, Stockholm. Like the other stock exchanges in Nordic nations such as Norway and Iceland, it is owned and operated by Nasdaq, Inc. since 2008. These Nasdaq Nordic stock exchanges include the Tallinn Stock Exchange or Nasdaq Baltic; the Riga Stock Exchange or Nasdaq Baltic; the Iceland Stock Exchange or Nasdaq Iceland; the Helsinki Stock Exchange or Nasdaq Helsinki; the Copenhagen Stock Exchange or Nasdaq Copenhagen; and the Armenia Stock Exchange or Nasdaq OMX Armenia.

The Nasdaq Stockholm has been around since 1863. Until May 1990, it had operated at the Stockholm Stock Exchange Building using a floor trading system. It is in June 1990 that electronic trading system had arrived in the country. It brings improvements with each new year to the work of the market, helping AB SKF to stay there.

Regular trading on the Nasdaq Stockholm opens at 9:00 a.m. and closes at 5:00 p.m. Today, more than 300 stocks are listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm. Its total market valuation is currently at $1.26 trillion.

The Index
The benchmark index in Sweden is the OMX Stockholm 30 (OMXS30), which is a market-capitalization-weighted index that tracks the top 30 stocks listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm. It uses the base value of 125 points— the base date being September 1986.

The OMXS30 is semi-annually rebalanced in order to ensure proper and accurate indication of the Swedish economy. Every rebalancing period, old stocks can be dropped from it and new ones can be added— largely depending on different factors and overall performance in the equity market.

The three largest sectors in the OMXS30 include Industrials, Financials, and Consumer Services.

The OMXS30 had posted its all-time low of 98.96 points, which is widely attributed to Black Monday, in November 1987. During the last few months of the year 1987, equity markets around the world had tumbled, which is an event now commonly dubbed as Black Monday. The meltdown had begun in Hong Kong and quickly spread like a wildfire worldwide.

Nonetheless, the OMXS30 had eventually banked gains, posting its all-time high of 1,719.93 in April 2015. AB SKF also received the increase.

It is a general truth that the best way to bet on a country’s growth potentials and long-term prospects is to penetrate its equity market. Consequently, the best way to bank on the growth of the Swedish economy and to maximize the opportunities in the nation is to invest on Nasdaq Stockholm stocks.