By Gustav Sandstrom
TODAY'S CALENDAR - All times GMT
Nordic Macro
0700 Norway PMI
0700 Denmark June unemployment
Other Macro
0755 Germany July
manufacturing PMI
0800 Eurozone July
manufacturing PMI
0830 UK July manufacturing
PMI
1100 Bank of England interest
rate announcement
1145 ECB interest rate
announcement
1400 US ISM July manufacturing
Nordic Equities
0530 Sanoma 2Q
0530 SRV 2Q
0600 Danske Bank 2Q
0600 Loomis 2Q
0600 Neste Oil 2Q
0630 Vacon 2Q
0900 Metsa Board 2Q
n/a TGS-Nopec 2Q
Other Equities
n/a ArcelorMittal 2Q
n/a AstraZeneca 2Q
n/a Royal Dutch Shell 2Q
n/a Siemens 3Q
n/a Societe General 2Q
n/a ExxonMobil 2Q
n/a Procter & Gamble 2Q
IN FOCUS:
Nordic investors' focus Thursday will on the interest rate
announcements from the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and
Bank of England, as well as purchasing managers indexes
worldwide.
Early trading will see market participants digesting the U.S.
Fed's monetary policy announcement, which came out after the Nordic
markets close, Nordea equity strategist Jonas Olavi said.
Federal Reserve officials Wednesday kept the central bank's $85
billion-a-month bond-buying program in place and pointed to modest
growth, higher mortgage rates and low inflation as factors it is
watching closely.
The Fed said that the economy has expanded "at a modest pace,"
during the first half of the year and also noted that mortgage
rates "have risen somewhat."
The description of growth as modest appears to be a slight
downgrade from the "moderate" growth Fed officials had been seeing
in the economy. It is the first time in at least three years that
the Fed has used the term "modest" to describe the economy in its
formal policy statement. The Fed's comment about higher mortgage
rates is also a new expression of concern in the statement.
U.S. share rallied post the FOMC, but the gains evaporated and
indexes ended mixed.
In Europe, the ECB is likely around lunch time to repeat earlier
hints that it will help stabilize the euro-zone economy if needed
but that politicians also need to take action, Mr. Olavi said.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England's announcement will probably have
rather limited effects on investor sentiment in the Nordic region,
he added.
With Chinese PMI data already out, there will be particular
focus on the figures from the U.S., Mr. Olavi said. That data, due
in the European afternoon, will probably be pretty solid, he
added
China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index
printed at 50.3, above the 50 mark that separates expansion from
contraction and above the 49.8 expected by economists. The official
data, however, bucked a privately compiled report also released
Thursday, which excludes state-owned enterprises and is watched as
a pulse on the health of small-to-medium sized companies in China.
The HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to a
final reading of 47.7 in July, down from 48.2 in June.
FOREX:
EUR/NOK
Latest 0350 GMT 7.8344-442
Previous 2150 GMT 7.8335-424
%Chg +0.02
EUR/SEK
Latest 0350 GMT 8.6416-50
Previous 2150 GMT 8.6605-706
%Chg -0.26
USD/NOK
Latest 0350 GMT 5.9025-90
Previous 2150 GMT 5.8895-951
%Chg +0.23
USD/SEK
Latest 0350 GMT 6.5107-22
Previous 2150 GMT 6.5112-77
%Chg -0.05
NORDIC CURRENCIES:
There is little news on the Nordic calendar to guide currency
investors Thursday, but the monetary policy announcements from the
Fed, ECB and Bank of England will probably move the Swedish krona
and Norwegian krone against other currencies, SEB forex strategist
Richard Falkenhall said.
The Swedish krona has been rather weak against the euro lately,
and in the near term it could well continue depreciating towards
8.80, Mr. Falkenhall said. The NOK probably won't weaken as much as
the SEK in the short term, he added, noting that the Norwegian
currency is highly dependent on the stance of the country's central
bank, which will likely leave its interest rate unchanged at its
next meeting in September.
STOCK INDEXES:
OMXN40 1,156.85 -2.43 -0.2%
OMXS30 1,234.07 -2.79 -0.2%
OBX 456.99 +2.08 +0.5%
OMXC20 546.92 -0.24 -0.0%
OMXH25 2,318.61 -14.83 -0.6%
Brent $107.90 +$0.20 +0.2%
NORDIC MARKETS:
Nordic stocks traded relatively flat Wednesday, extending the
past few sessions' consolidation.
Last month was a fairly strong one for local markets, largely
thanks to a solid range of second-quarter reports, Nordea's Mr.
Olavi said.
Many of the companies reporting so far have seen some signs of
economic stabilization in Europe, and if that trend continues there
is reason to be optimistic about the stock market ahead of the
second half of the year, he added.
On Thursday, Nordic investors will look forward to yet another
set of quarterly earnings reports from local companies, including
Danish lender Danske Bank A/S (DANSKE.KO), Swedish cash handling
company Loomis AB (LOOM-B.SK) and Finnish oil refining group Neste
Oil Oyj (NES1V.HE).
ENERGY:
Oil prices are higher in Asia after the U.S. Federal Reserve's
view that the economy was growing modestly eased fears it would
soon wind down its huge stimulus programme. Investors were also
cheered by better-than-expected U.S. growth figures for the
April-June period, fuelling hopes for a pick-up in energy
demand.
"Oil prices remain supported by the U.S. Fed's clear signal
regarding retaining monetary stimulus for now," David Lennox,
resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney, said.
Kenny Kan, market analyst CMC Markets in Singapore, said "the
Chinese PMI data is having little impact on oil prices, investors
are taking a wait-and-see approach while focusing on U.S. economic
data."
September Nymex crude is at $105.40/bbl, up 37 cents from its
previous close. Brent is at $107.90, up 20 cents
NEWS ROUNDUP:
SWEDEN: Streaming music company Spotify Wednesday said its 2012
revenue was more than double that of 2011 amid the rapid
digitization of the music industry, but said it also saw wider
losses for the period compared with 2011.
SWEDEN: Airline SAS AB (SAS.SK) Wednesday said that as part of
its plan to improve its financial position, it has finalized the
sale and leaseback of six Boeing 737-600's to Deucalion Capital X
Limited and ELFC (Engine Lease Finance Cooperation) acting
jointly.
DENMARK: Biotech company Neurosearch A/S (NEUR.KO) Wednesday
said that the company has given notice to its CEO, Rene
Schneider.
NORWAY: Oil and gas producer Det Norske Oljeselskap ASA
(DETNOR.OS) Wednesday said that Total E&P Norge AS, as operator
of production license 535 in the Barents Sea, is in the process of
concluding the drilling of appraisal well 7225/3-2 on the Norvarg
gas discovery made in 2011.
FINLAND: Stainless steel maker Outokumpu Oyj (OUT1V.HE)
Wednesday said it has been awarded a contract from Casa de Moneda
de Mexico to supply coins to be used for Mexican currency.
Write to Gustav Sandstrom at gustav.sandstrom@dowjones.com