By Gustav Sandstrom
TODAY'S CALENDAR - All times GMT
Macro
0600 UK July nationwide house
price index
0830 UK July construction PMI
0900 Eurozone June PPI
1230 US July non-farm payrolls
1230 US June personal income and
outlays
1345 US July ISM-NY report on
business
Nordic Equities
0530 Fiskars 2Q
0530 Sponda 2Q
n/a Meda 2Q
Other Equities
n/a Allianz 2Q
n/a AXA 2Q
n/a Deutsche Lufthansa 2Q
n/a RBS 2Q
n/a Chevron 2Q
IN FOCUS:
U.S. non-farm payrolls data for July, due at 1230 GMT, will be a
main highlight for Nordic investors Friday.
Consensus expectations are for around 150,000-200,000 new jobs
and the reading could well come in towards the higher end of that
range taking into account the solid ADP labor market data earlier
this week, SEB Private Banking equity strategist Mattias Gredmark
said.
"Most labour market indicators point to ongoing employment
growth across private sector industries," HSBC said in a note to
investors. "We estimate that June non-farm payrolls rose by
165,000," it said.
Other macroeconomic releases on Friday's agenda include
euro-zone PPI data for June, and personal income and outlay figures
as well as the ISM-NY business report from the U.S.
HSBC expects euro-zone PPI to be flat from the previous month,
and to have increased to 0.3% from minus 0.2% on the year.
Market participants will also look forward to a bunch of
second-quarter earnings reports from the Nordic region and abroad,
from companies such as Swedish pharmaceutical concern Meda AB
(MEDA-A.SK), U.K.-based bank RBS (RBS.LN) and U.S. oil major
Chevron Corp. (CVX).
FOREX:
EUR/NOK
Latest 0350 GMT 7.8559-658
Previous 2150 GMT 7.8527-603
%Chg +0.06
EUR/SEK
Latest 0350 GMT 8.7144-224
Previous 2150 GMT 8.7266-333
%Chg -0.13
USD/NOK
Latest 0350 GMT 5.9459-524
Previous 2150 GMT 5.9458-507
%Chg +0.01
USD/SEK
Latest 0350 GMT 6.5956-6006
Previous 2150 GMT 6.6075-116
%Chg -0.17
NORDIC CURRENCIES:
The SEK weakened against the both the USD and the EUR Thursday
after Swedish PMI fell in July; the USD strengthened further
against both the NOK and the SEK as initial jobless claims and U.S.
ISM figures came in on the strong side.
Friday brings currency investors one of the most important data
releases of the month, the non-farm payrolls report, and while the
release is always important, U.S. data has come under increased
scrutiny this summer.
"Much of the movements in currency markets have been fuelled by
speculation around tapering," Camilla Viland, currency analyst at
DNB said. She noted the Federal Reserve has made tapering of its
bond buying program conditional on jobs data developing positively,
which means the jobs market data is even more closely watched than
usual.
DNB has a slightly more positive view on the payroll data than
consensus and Ms. Viland suspects strong data will support
investors' view that tapering will begin sometime this autumn, and
this will probably cause the USD to strengthen. She notes, however,
that reaction to this Friday's number will likely be more subdued
since investors have already come to expect that tapering is
approaching and the focus has shifted to the timing.
STOCK INDEXES:
OMXN40 1,170.32 +13.47 +1.2%
OMXS30 1,248.38 +14.31 +1.2%
OBX 458.98 +1.99 +0.4%
OMXC20 560.72 +13.80 +2.5%
OMXH25 2,364.32 +45.71 +2.0%
Brent $110.01 +$0.47 +0.4%%
NORDIC MARKETS:
Nordic stocks traded higher Thursday with investor sentiment
boosted by solid PMI data from regions including China and the U.K.
as well as comparatively dovish monetary policy comments overnight
from U.S. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Market conditions have been favorable of late, with solid job
creation in the U.S. combined with low inflation, allowing the
Federal Reserve to maintain a pretty dovish stance, SEB Private
Banking's Mr. Gredmark said.
Still, the Nordic stock markets are looking ripe for a
correction sooner or later, he said.
Stocks in the region look technically overbought and the
positive recent newsflow makes investor sentiment vulnerable to any
negative surprises, Mr. Gredmark noted.
ENERGY:
Crude oil prices are higher, tacking on to overnight gains on
the back of upbeat economic data from Europe, the U.S. and
China.
"When we see good economic numbers come out, it gives fuel to
the fire on the energy side. There will be more oil demand even
though we are well supplied," says Tariq Zahir, managing member of
Tyche Capital Advisors.
Attention now shifts to U.S. jobs data. While positive data
could provide another lift to crude, analysts say oil could take a
step back after a big rally in the past two trading sessions.
September Nymex crude is at $108.53 a barrel, up 64 cents, while
Brent North Sea crude for September is 47 cents higher at
$110.01.
NEWS ROUNDUP:
SWEDEN: Sweden's purchasing managers' index fell in July in a
further sign that Scandinavia's largest economy is losing steam.
The index, which measures activity in the manufacturing sector,
fell to 51.3 from 53.5 in June, index compiler Swedbank said
Thursday.
SWEDEN: Cash handling company Loomis AB (LOOM-B.SK) Thursday
reported rising second-quarter net profit from a year earlier,
helped by rising revenue and margins, and said it sees good
potential for organic growth thanks to the contracts it secured in
the quarter.
SWEDEN: Telecom operator TeliaSonera AB (TLSN.SK) Thursday said
its Spanish subsidiary Yoigo has reached a series of agreements
with Telefonica's (TEF) Movistar subsidiary enabling Yoigo to sell
combined fixed-mobile services to its customers.
DENMARK: Lender Danske Bank A/S (DANSKE.KO) Thursday cut its
full-year earnings guidance as financial market turbulence in June
hit income from its insurance business and restricted trading
income, despite posting a bigger-than-expected rise in
second-quarter net profit.
DENMARK: Wind turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems A/S (WVS.KO)
Thursday said it has received a firm and unconditional order for 35
V112-3.0 MW turbines for three wind power plants in South
Africa.
FINLAND: Media company Sanoma Oyj (SAA1V.HE) Thursday posted a
fall in second-quarter net profit as advertising markets and media
circulation sales continued to deteriorate while last year saw
gains from the sale of various businesses.
FINLAND: Construction company SRV Yhtiot Oyj (SRV1V.HE) Thursday
reported an increase in second-quarter net profit, helped by a
strong performance in Russia, and upgraded its full-year guidance
for 2013.
FINLAND: Packaging producer Metsa Board Corp. (METSB.HE)
Thursday posted a sharp drop in second-quarter net profit after
last year was boosted by profits from divestments, and warned that
the third-quarter pre-items operating result will be weaker than in
the second quarter due to maintenance shutdowns.
Write to Gustav Sandstrom at gustav.sandstrom@dowjones.com
(Johannes Ledel in Stockholm contributed to this report.)