WEEKLY UPDATE – HQ Bank down 90 percent after messy week.

Stocks in Stockholm rose during the week as global figures boosted hopes that the economic recovery is on the right track. The OMX Stockholm 30 index was up 4.16 percent compared to last week, boosted by upbeat US job figures Friday afternoon.

European equities surged after US Labor Department figures showed that companies in the US added more jobs than forecast last month, easing concern the economy was falling back into a recession.

"In the wake of (Federal Reserve boss) Ben Bernanke’s comments last week and recent economic data, this report adds to the notion recovery is slow and tepid, but is underway," Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics told AFP.

The previous day Sweden’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 points to 0.75 percent as the country's economy makes a strong recovery from recession. "The Swedish economy is continuing to show strong growth," the Riksbank said in a statement.

It’s been an extremely turbulent week for investment bank HQ Bank which has seen its stock shares dive more than 90 percent compared to a week ago. HQ Bank said Friday its competitor Carnegie would buy the bank after the authorities revoked its licences and forced it into liquidation. However, the news did little to calm the markets. When the Stockholm stock exchange resumed trading of HQ's stock after a four-day break Friday afternoon, the share price plummeted more than 60 percent in the first few minutes back on the market.

Trading was on Thursday halted for shares in Europe's biggest paper maker Stora Enso and two other Nordic paper giants, amid reports that the three companies would partially merge. Before trading stopped, Norske Skog saw its share price soar more than 20 percent on the Oslo bourse, while Stora Enso and Holmen had been up more than 4.0 percent.

Chain store Clas Ohlson -- Sweden's third-largest retailer after Ikea and clothing chain H&M; – said Tuesday it plans a massive UK expansion and may open as many as 200 new stores.

Since the turn of the year the OMX Stockholm 30 index is up 9.98 percent.

This article has been published at The Swedish Wire and Nasdaq OMX Nordic.