By Charles Duxbury
TODAY'S CALENDAR - All times GMT
Nordic Macro
0700 Denmark Consumer
Confidence
N/A Sweden Pre-budget Meeting
1300 Sweden Fin Min Briefs on
Economic Outlook, Budget Plans
Other Macro
0600 Germany 2Q GDP final
0830 UK 2Q GDP
1400 EMU Consumer Confidence
1400 US New Home Sales
N/A US Jackson Hole Summit
Nordic Equities
0600 FLSmidth 2Q
N/A Bjorn Borg 2Q
N/A Eitzen Chemical 2Q
IN FOCUS:
Important locally Friday will be a statement from Sweden's
finance minister on the outlook for his country's economy. Along
with the outlook, Anders Borg is expected to give guidance on some
of the policies his election-year budget will contain. The budget,
discussed by governing lawmakers this week, is set to go before
parliament next month. Swedes go to the polls in a general election
next September.
Further income tax cuts look a strong possibility for inclusion
in the 2014 budget as does some extra spending on infrastructure
and education.
Focus also on earnings reports from the likes of Danish FLSmidth
(FLS.KO).
Eyes will be also be on euro zone consumer confidence and U.S
new home sales as possible market movers.
FOREX:
EUR/NOK
Latest 0150 GMT 8.1468-568
Previous 2150 GMT 8.1512-620
%Chg -0.06
EUR/SEK
Latest 0150 GMT 8.6822-68
Previous 2150 GMT 8.7029-128
%Chg -0.27
USD/NOK
Latest 0150 GMT 6.1036-102
Previous 2150 GMT 6.1033-107
%Chg 0.00
USD/SEK
Latest 0150 GMT 6.5047-72
Previous 2150 GMT 6.5164-230
%Chg -0.21
NORDIC CURRENCIES:
Nordea analysts Mikael Sarwe and Henrik Unell say the time has
come to buy SEK. Trends for the main economic indicators the
Swedish central bank looks at are starting to point towards higher
interest rates, the analysts say.
GDP and credit growth are rising, inflation has passed the
bottom and unemployment has fallen, they note. They believe the
Riksbank will be among the first central banks to hike. "Our
forecast has for some time been that the first rate hike will come
in April 2014," Sarwe and Unell say. EUR/SEK will reach 8.20 by mid
2014, they say.
STOCK INDEXES:
OMXN40 1173.33 +16.59 +1.4%
OMXS30 1237.14 +11.09 +0.9%
OBX 462.27 +3.66 +0.8%
OMXC20 566.51 +1.17 +0.2%
OMXH25 2442.97 +31.07 +1.3%
Brent $110.22 +0.32 +0.3%
NORDIC MARKETS:
Second-quarter earnings from Danish engineering group FLSmidth
(FLS.KO) will round off a week of reports from Danish heavyweights
that has seen the likes of Carlsberg and Vestas publish
figures.
Klaus Kehl, senior equity analyst at Nykredit Markets, said one
of the major things to look out for in the report will be how order
intake has been affected during the quarter.
He noted that some of FLSmidth's peers have reported poor order
intake and that many mining companies, which FLSmidth supplies,
have been lowering their CAPEX.
On the macro side investors will also keep an eye out for news
coming from the ongoing Jackson Hole Summit in the US. Nordea noted
that "any hints regarding when tapering could start will likely
result in large market reactions."
ENERGY:
Crude oil prices were higher in tight ranges with expectations
of prices to remain supported as upbeat data from China is expected
to account for about 40% of the 900,000 barrels a day rise in
global oil demand projected for this year by the International
Energy Agency. "Manufacturing data is China was good and that bodes
well for oil demand," said Phil Flynn, broker and analyst at Price
Futures Group. October Nymex crude was at $105.16 a barrel, up 13
cents and October Brent crude was at $110.22/bbl, up 32 cents.
NEWS ROUNDUP:
SWEDEN: Hufvudstaden AB (HUFV-A.SK), the Swedish property
company, Thursday posted a rise in second-quarter net profit,
boosted by an unrealized change in the value of its properties
compared with the year-earlier period.
SWEDEN: Kerstin af Jochnick, one of the six interest rate
setters at Sweden's central bank, said economic indicators were
sending conflicting messages as she considered her position ahead
of a monetary policy meeting set for early next month.
DENMARK: DFDS A/S (DFDS.KO), the Danish shipping and logistics
company, posted a rise in second-quarter net profit, helped by
higher freight volumes in the North Sea, but said price pressure is
still widespread and maintained its full-year guidance.
NORWAY: BWG HOMES ASA (BWG.OS), the Norwegian maker of
pre-fabricated homes, said several indicators suggest that the
previously struggling Swedish house market is improving and that
home buyers are returning to the market, as it reported higher
second-quarter revenue year on year.
NORWAY: Austevoll Seafood ASA (AUSS.OS), the Norwegian fishing
and food processing company, said increased production and prices
for salmon and trout contributed to higher revenue and profit in
the second quarter.
SWEDEN: New Wave Group AB (NEWA-B.SK), the Swedish corporate
gift and promotion company, said it is expecting a continued tough
and difficult market in the third quarter and maybe for the rest of
the year as it reported lower second-quarter revenue, albeit
profits improved on the back of good cost control.
NORWAY: DOF ASA (DOF.OS), the Norwegian offshore engineer,
reported higher operating income in the second quarter and said it
has signed several new contracts and extension of contracts during
the period, adding that it expects higher earnings for the last six
months of 2013 compared to the first six months.
-Write to Charles Duxbury at charles.duxbury@wsj.com; Twitter
@WSJNordics
(Johannes Ledel in Stockholm contributed to this report.)