Stocks gain courage after upbeat US job data
Swedish stocks rallied Friday after surprisingly strong US job data, indicating recovery.
| Related news: • Swedish banks rebound after Dubai debt fears |
Last week’s fear of a Dubai dept crisis transformed during the week into a worry over swelling unemployment figures.
Stocks in Sweden fell at the start of trading on Friday following overnight losses on Wall Street but rebounded in the afternoon after US employers unexpectedly cut the fewest jobs in November since the recession began. Hours worked, wages and staffing at temporary employment agencies all rose.
“Today’s figures are a ‘game changer’. The market is entering a new phase. Yes, man!”, Martin Guri, equity strategist at Nordea, wrote in an update. “It’s hard to believe it’s actually true”.
Swedish banks and other stocks sensitive to market fluctuations rose on the news. OMX Stockholm 30 climbed Friday afternoon and closed 1.38 percent up after having nervously splashed in the red during most of day. Compared to last week stocks were up 2.90 percent.
Also Sweden’s Finance Minister Anders Borg struck a cheerful tone Friday as he said that state’s finances are recovering from the financial crisis and global downturn faster than previously predicted.
Sweden’s purchasing managers' index dipped unexpectedly Tuesday for November. Still, it was the seventh month in a row that the index indicates growth.
Scania, Sweden’s second largest truck maker, gained 3 percent Tuesday after tittle-tattle that Germany’s MAN and Volkswagen are planning a combined commercial-vehicles group that would include Scania.
Ericsson fell Friday after Danske Markets lowered its recommendations and target price for Ericsson to 60 kronor. The previous day its joint venture ST-Ericsson, a cellphones chipmaker, had to slash another 600 jobs.
Mobile phone giant Nokia fell Wednesday after telling investors that cellphone market are expected to recover faster than analysts are forecasting but falling handset prices would cap profitability growth.
Since the turn of the year the OMX Stockholm 30 index is up 46.40 percent.
This article has been published at The Swedish Wire and Nasdaq OMX Nordic.
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Last Updated (Sunday, 27 December 2009 17:16)



















