By Sven Grundberg
TODAY'S CALENDAR - All times GMT
Nordic Macro
0800 Norway Trade Balance, July
Other Macro
1230 US CPI
US Initial jobless Claims
1315 US Industrial Production
1400 US NAHB Housing Market Index
US Philly Fed Index
Nordic Equities
0500 Oriflame 2Q
Veidekke 2Q
0600 H&M July Sales
Clas Ohlson July Sales
Ratos 2Q
NA Torm 2Q
NA Ekornes
IN FOCUS:
Focus on Thursday is on July sales figures from Swedish fashion
retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB (HM-B.SK), due at 0600 GMT.
Analysts polled by Dow Jones expect July sales to be 10.2% higher
on the year, while same store sales are seen 0.6% higher
year-on-year.
H&M, which is battling Spanish rival Inditex SA (ITX.MC),
has been nagged by a stagnant European market and has been
investing heavily in a slew new initiatives, including a drive to
tap new markets, grow its retail footprint and boost its online
sales. Its second quarter profits, however, were down 10% compared
with a year ago.
Internationally, Wednesday was a busy day for data, as fresh
economic output figures showed that the euro-zone economy has
finally emerged from its longest postwar contraction. The Euro-zone
economy returned to growth in the second quarter after six straight
quarters of contraction, expanding at a quarterly rate of 0.3%.
Euro zone growth was largely driven by Germany, the block's
strongest and largest economy. Against the expectations of many
economists, the French economy also played its part. But an even
greater source of surprise was Portugal, where economic activity
picked up by 1.1%.
On Thursday, focus will shift from the euro zone to the U.S. and
a number of data releases, including CPI, industrial production,
initial jobless claims and the National Association of Home
Builders' housing market index. The latter comes ahead of U.S.
housing starts and building permits data on Friday.
In a note, Danske Bank said it expects to see a rebound in the
U.S. housing market from last month's soft readings, with likely
higher housing starts and building permits. It added, however, that
the NAHB index "is likely to decrease slightly after several months
of improvements."
FOREX:
EUR/NOK
Latest 0150 GMT 7.8074-160
Previous 2150 GMT 7.8075-152
%Chg +0.00
EUR/SEK
Latest 0150 GMT 8.6245-322
Previous 2150 GMT 8.6287-379
%Chg -0.06
USD/NOK
Latest 0150 GMT 5.8876-932
Previous 2150 GMT 5.8906-55
%Chg -0.05
USD/SEK
Latest 0150 GMT 6.5038-86
Previous 2150 GMT 6.5102-62
%Chg -0.11
NORDIC CURRENCIES:
Sweden's industrial production rose 3% in the month June
compared with a fall of 2.6% in May, but fell 4% on the year,
according to a data release on Wednesday.
The figures easily beat expectations for a 1.8% monthly gain and
a 5.2% drop on the year, lending support to the Swedish krona,
which gained ground versus both the euro and dollar.
Still, the Swedish industry is struggling, Nordea analyst
Torbjorn Isaksson said.
"Despite the jump in June the overall trend has still been weak
in recent months," Mr. Isaksson said.
Swedish industrial production remains weaker than Germany and
the recovery in the largest Nordic economy will likely be slow, he
added.
On Thursday, focus will be on Norway's July trade balance data,
due to be published at 0800 GMT.
STOCK INDEXES:
OMXN40 1195.89 +5.70 +0.5%
OMXS30 1262.48 +2.04 +0.2%
OBX 464.38 +3.44 +0.8%
OMXC20 566.70 -1.37 -0.2%
OMXH25 2455.31 +9.75 +0.4%
Brent $110.58 +0.38 +0.4%
NORDIC MARKETS:
On Thursday investors will be eyeing Swedish fashion retailer
H&M's July sales figures, before turning attention to a number
of U.S. data releases scheduled for publishing in the
afternoon.
Analysts polled by Dow Jones expect H&M July sales to be
10.2% higher on the year, while same store sales are seen 0.6%
higher year-on-year.
U.S. data releases are under increased scrutiny as investors
attempt to guess how long the Federal Reserve will proceed with its
bond purchasing initiative, after the Fed's policy-setting
committee in June signaled plans to scale back its Treasury and
mortgage-bond purchases providing that the U.S. economy continue to
show signs of strength.
"People are trying to get some kind of hint on when the tapering
of asset purchases will start," said Michael Canborn, a market
analyst at IG markets.
Among Thursday's most important data releases are industrial
production data 1315 GMT and the Philly Fed index at 1400 GMT.
ENERGY:
benchmarks--Nymex WTI crude and ICE Brent crude--have settled
higher for four straight sessions. U.S. oil inventories fell more
than expected, by 2.8 million barrels to a seven-month low in the
week ended Aug. 9, according to data from the EIA. Analysts
surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a drop of 1.5 million
barrels. "Inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point
dropped for the sixth consecutive week, reaching their lowest in 17
months," Phillip Futures said. Brent crude is trading at its
highest level since early April, supported by increased violence in
Egypt, which is home to the Suez Canal and Sumed pipeline that
transport Middle Eastern oil. Egypt's crackdown on Muslim
Brotherhood protesters Wednesday turned deadly with more than 278
people killed across the country. Nymex WTI crude was up 24c at
$107.09/bbl, Brent was up 38c at $110.58/bbl.
NEWS ROUNDUP:
FINLAND: Finnair OYJ (FIA1S.HE), the Finnish airline, Wednesday
said it swung to a second-quarter net profit as earnings were
boosted by the sale of its stake in Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA
(NAS.OS), but downgraded its full-year turnover guidance following
the significant weakening of the Japanese yen against the euro.
DENMARK: Jyske Bank A/S (JYSK.KO), the Danish bank, swung to a
net profit in the second quarter as net interest income rose and
loan losses declined.
SWEDEN: Holmen AB (HOLM-B.SK), the Swedish paper and packaging
company, reported a decline in second-quarter net profit as lower
selling prices for printing paper and a stronger Swedish krona
weighed on results.
NORWAY: Kongsberg Gruppen ASA (KOG.OS), the Norwegian
conglomerate, said a solid order backlog and a positive trend in
its oil and gas business provides a strong platform for the
second-half of the year after it posted a drop in second-quarter
net profit.
NORWAY: DOF ASA (DOF.OS), the Norwegian offshore engineer, said
Wednesday that its DOF Subsea unit has been awarded contracts in
the Atlantic region and Brazil worth a total of NOK750 million.
SWEDEN: Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) is facing more criticism related
to its controlling stake in truck maker Scania AB (SCV-A.SK), as a
group representing Swedish private investors asks for an
investigation into how the German auto maker will squeeze synergies
from its stable of commercial vehicle assets without diminishing
Scania's value.
Write to Sven Grundberg at sven.grundberg@dowjones.com; Twitter:
@svengrundberg
(Johannes Ledel in Stockholm contributed to this report.)
