Oslo Bürs has had a rollercoaster ride this week. The stock market fell on Monday, then rose on Tuesday, then fell almost completely on Wednesday, before rising again on Thursday to the level of Tuesday.
With the help of the price of oil, which on Thursday rose about four percent from Wednesday’s levels, Oslo Bors ended with an increase of 0.7 percent on Thursday.
On the last day of the week, the Oslo Stocks rose 0.26 percent.
Among today’s winners at Oslo Bors is the technology company Volue, which provides services to the energy market. The company’s operating income was NOK 298 million in the second quarter, an increase of 28 percent over the same period last year.
“We are posting strong growth and the best first-quarter and second-half year to date, driven by an impressive 44 percent growth in our energy sector,” CEO Trond Ström said in a statement on Friday.
Volue shares rose 9.4 percent.
Oil price improvement
The spot price of Brent crude on Friday reached $96.5 a barrel, thus it is up 3.11 percent so far this week.
Chief Strategist Anders Johansen at Danske Bank lists the main factors investors are tracking now: the oil price, the war in Ukraine, the Chinese economy, and interest rate meetings. (Photo: Rodrigo Freitas)
European gas prices are at an all-time high. We see that many countries are changing what they can from natural gas to oil in the production of electricity. Anders Johansen, chief strategist at Danske Bank says they need to fill the teams until winter.
At the same time, President Joe Biden is working intensively to bring down oil prices in the run-up to the US midterm elections. The potential nuclear deal with Iran increases the chance of a greater flow of oil to the market.
Mixed quarterly reports
On Friday, another group of companies released their quarterly reports:
Gram Car Carrier improved both its turnover and operating profit from the first quarter. The shipping company posted an operating profit of $9.3 million in the second quarter of 2022, compared to $5.9 million in the first quarter. The trading value was $27.7 million, compared to $23.5 million in the first quarter. The share fell 2.0 percent.
Prosev Home Supplies Co. reported an operating result before depreciation and amortization in the second quarter of $22.8 million — up from $18.1 million last year. Prosafe’s share rose 1.0 percent.
There was a drop in profits for mobile technology supplier Techstep, which had adjusted pre-tax income of NOK 12.2 million in the second quarter of 2022, compared to NOK 13.3 million in the same quarter the previous year. Techstep’s share fell 8.3%.
Arendals Fossekompani (AFK) cut its operating profit in half from last year. The company generated an operating profit of NOK 70 million in the second quarter of 2022, compared to NOK 149 million in the same period the previous year. In the quarterly report, the company said it still expects higher profits in 2022 than in 2021 due to higher energy prices. The share fell 31.9 percent.
Software company Elliptic Labs could announce Friday morning that it has signed a licensing agreement with a new customer, the world’s 10 largest smartphone manufacturers. The share fell 4.6 percent.
SAS cancels 1,700 flights
On Friday, it became clear that airline SAS had canceled about 1,700 scheduled flights in September and October, as a result of the summer pilot strike.
Although the 15-day trial strike at SAS ended in July, hiring at the company will be affected for several months to come. About 1,200 flights planned in September were canceled and in October the number of canceled flights reached about 500.
The stock fell 3.8% on Friday.
The global supply tightening is regressing
Record high US crude oil exports, the resumption of Libyan production, and continued exports from Russia and Iran have eased global supply ahead of the refinery maintenance peak season.
US crude stocks fell sharply after the United States exported five million barrels of oil per day last week, as oil companies see strong demand from European countries looking to replace Russian crude, according to Reuters.
– While the strong weekly inventory numbers bolstered optimism for improving fuel demand in the near term, ongoing recession fears and a potential increase in production from OPEC+ are likely to limit the upside in oil prices, said Satoru Yoshida, commodity analyst at Rakuten Securities, According to Reuters.
The news service notes that the increase in US fuel production could partly offset the decline in petroleum product exports from China this year as Beijing prioritizes the domestic market to curb domestic fuel inflation.
Otherwise, Iran boosted its oil exports in June and July and could increase production further this month by offering a higher discount on Russian crude to its main buyer China, companies that track the flows said, according to Reuters.
Investors follow this
– Next week there is no interest rate meeting in the US, but the annual central bank conference where Federal Reserve Chairman Jeremy Powell will come out to speak again. Anders Johansen of Danske Bank explains that it’s the closest we’ll get to a US interest rate meeting this month.
– There is tension associated with whether he will say something new, but I don’t think he will. The Fed said they will rely on the data – they will look at the data when deciding on an interest rate, which the market interprets favorably.
Aside from the central bank conference, Johansen points to what he calls “the conflict between Russia and the West” and the Chinese economy and oil prices as important topics that investors are now pursuing.
– Putin, Xi and Biden are expected to attend the G20 meeting in Bali. It is positive that they all go there, even if the meeting is not until November. It remains to be seen, but if a dialogue takes place it will be positive for the market.
On the Asian stock exchanges, the development has been mixed. The Nikkei, Hang Seng and Shanghai indices eventually closed down 0.1 percent.(Conditions)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and/or our suppliers. We would like you to share our cases using the links that lead directly to our pages. All or part of the Content may not be copied or otherwise used with written permission or as permitted by law. For additional terms look here.
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