The Stockholm Stock Exchange recovered towards the end of Friday, after a sharp decline earlier in the day, and closed slightly lower. The performance was in line with that of the leading European stock exchanges. Friday was the fourth last trading day of the year. There are now only three days of trading left on the Stockholm Stock Exchange before the New Year holidays.

At the close, the OMXS30 index was down 0.26 percent to 2,474.65. Shares worth around SEK 34.5 billion were traded on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.

The best performance among the stock exchange's major industrial sectors was real estate with an increase of 1.65 percent. At the other end of the scale, energy was at the bottom with minus 0.85 percent.

Among the leading stocks, which are included in the OMXS30 index, H&M rose 1.6 percent while ABB was up 0.9 percent. Nordea was the worst performer, down 1.8 percent, while SEB was down 1.7 percent.

The forest industry company Holmen's paper mill in Braviken was hit by a fire, which means that production is at a standstill. Four of the five people who were first hospitalized have been allowed to return home.
The mill produces specialty paper for magazines and books, among other things. The share rose 1.0%.

Steel company SSAB's share fell 2.0 percent. The US industry peer lowered its forecast for ebitda earnings in the fourth quarter.

Construction company NCC received a renovation order in Denmark worth SEK 1 billion. The share rose 0.3 percent.

Online broker Avanza Bank acquires Sigmastocks for SEK 21.1 million. Sigmastocks has around SEK 500 million under management and 7,000 customers. The transaction is expected to be completed in May next year. The share rose 0.7 percent.

Medical device company Sedana Medical achieved the primary endpoint in its first pivotal study in the US, Inspire-Icu 1. The safety data was in line with expectations. The stock climbed 23.4 percent.

The research company IBT has decided to continue the development of the drug candidate IBP-9414. The share advanced 18 percent.

The technology company Image Systems has received several orders in recent days. On Friday, a couple of orders worth a total of SEK 16.2 million were received, resulting in a share price increase of 12.1 percent.

Handelsbanken raised its recommendations for the technology consultant Rejlers. The short-term recommendation was raised to buy, from hold, and the long-term recommendation to outperform, from marketperform. The target price was raised from SEK 195 to 200. The share rose 3.7 percent.