The main index on the Oslo Stock Exchange rose 0.5 percent on Wednesday, thus continuing to rise from what it was earlier in the week.
This is despite the decline in the stock market in Asia, significant geopolitical uncertainty, and the fact that the three major indexes on Wall Street fell above one percent on Tuesday.
The stock market here at home is different from other European markets, because it gets good momentum from record high oil prices daily.
On Tuesday, the price of oil reached $100 again, and on Wednesday, the price of Brent North Sea crude rose to $112 a barrel, and is trading at its highest levels since the fall of 2014.
Oil giant Equinor also pushed up 1.2 percent from yesterday’s record high closing price. During Wednesday, the company topped NOK 1,000 billion in market capitalization for the first time, but closed in just under that.
Equinor was by far the most traded stock today, and the company is now worth more than the next five companies on the exchange combined, which means the stock price has a lot to say to developing the leading index.
Among the most heavily traded stocks on Wednesday were Aker BP No. 2 and Norsk Hydro No. three. They rose 7.2 and 1.9 percent, respectively.
It is worth noting that the rally on the Oslo Stock Exchange since November has been driven almost exclusively by Equinor and partly by Norsk Hydro, says DNB Markets CEO Alexander Obstadt.
Uncertainty prevails in the market
The head of markets says that everything now revolves around the extremely tragic situation in Ukraine, and the effects of the war on geopolitics and energy markets.
– The oil price witnessed another jump and we expect a mixed development, as energy stocks continue to rise and other sectors are developing weakly. He adds that markets are taking into account that, tragically, there are few prospects for de-escalation of the war in Ukraine.
Now it’s all about the extremely tragic situation in Ukraine, and the effects of the war on geopolitics and energy markets, says Alexander Obstad, CEO of DNB Markets. (Photo: Jawad Parsa)
The United States, along with a number of other countries, decided to significantly deplete its strategic oil reserves to stop the disruption of the Russian war in Ukraine. Most of the major oil companies have also decided to leave Russia.
Sharp decline in the fixed income market
We expect the markets to be under pressure from the prevailing high uncertainty. In the fixed income market, we’ve seen a sharp decline in recent days, especially in Europe, which indicates poor growth prospects, says Obstad.
– Particular uncertainty associated with the loss of Russian gas to Europe. He adds that in such a situation, parts of the European industry will have to shut down, gas prices will rise and Europe will enter an economic recession.
The markets manager says that the markets are reflective of the geopolitical situation, which has been turned upside down within a few days.
The prospect of a new Cold War boosts suppliers to the defense industry. Obstad says the West, and especially Europe, will think very differently about energy security, and that is reflected in renewable stocks, among other things.
Tougher penalties
Turmoil continues in global stock exchanges. A few hours after Wall Street closed with a notable drop of more than 1.5 percent for the three benchmark indices, volatility spread across the Pacific.
After the end of American time, Joe Biden gave his first State of the Union address as president.
President Joe Biden delivered his first State of the Union address as president Wednesday night. (Photo: Patrick Simansky/AP/NTB)
“Putin is now more isolated from the world than ever before,” Biden told Congress Wednesday night.
Biden announced that the United States is escalating sanctions against Russia and closing the airspace to Russian aircraft. The President reiterated that the United States will not deploy troops to Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion.
Stock market turmoil continues
The Nikkei index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell more than 1.5 percent in the first hour to below 26,500, and ended down 1.68 percent.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 1.84 percent. There are also concerns about the largest outbreak of corona in Hong Kong to date.
The VIX, often referred to as the “fear index” of US stocks, has risen more than ten percent in the past 24 hours — to 33.3 — and is approaching its yearly high as of Feb. 24, when it was 36.8. Japan’s Vix is up 6.3 percent in the past 24 hours.
The Russian Central Bank decided to close the Moscow Stock Exchange for trading on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
The Moscow Stock Exchange did not open this week. The authorities tried to prevent the financial collapse and the flight of investors from Russian securities. The Russian ruble collapsed against foreign currencies. On Monday, the central bank more than doubled its key interest rate to 20 percent.(Terms)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and/or our suppliers. We would like you to share our cases using a link that leads 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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