Finland's stock market finished lower on Thursday, with sector declines in Healthcare, Utilities and Telecoms driving the benchmark down. At the Helsinki close, the OMX Helsinki 25 was down 2.19%.
Top and bottom movers
The session produced a handful of notable individual moves on the OMX Helsinki 25. Leading the gainers, TietoEVRY Corp (HE:TIETO) jumped 14.04% - a rise of 2.34 points - to finish at 19.01. Telecom group Elisa Oyj (HE:ELISA) added 1.60% or 0.68 points to close at 43.14, while retailer Kesko Oyj (HE:KESKOB) rose 0.95% or 0.20 points to end the day at 21.34.
On the downside, Orion Oyj B (HE:ORNBV) posted the largest loss, sliding 10.46% or 7.80 points to close at 66.80. Energy firm Fortum Oyj (HE:FORTUM) declined 6.21% or 1.28 points to 19.34, and stainless steel producer Outokumpu Oyj (HE:OUT1V) fell 6.16% or 0.33 points to finish at 4.96.
Market breadth and broader moves
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the Helsinki Stock Exchange by 107 to 65, and 18 stocks were unchanged at the close.
Commodities and currency markets showed additional price movement during the session. Brent crude for April delivery fell 2.77% - down $1.92 - to $67.48 a barrel. U.S. crude for March delivery slipped 2.82% or $1.82 to $62.81 a barrel. The April gold futures contract dropped 2.43% - down $123.96 - to trade at $4,974.54 a troy ounce.
In foreign exchange trading, EUR/USD was unchanged at 1.19, while EUR/GBP moved negligibly, up 0.02% to 0.87. The U.S. Dollar Index Futures registered a modest rise of 0.10%, trading at 96.82.
Summary
The Helsinki market closed sharply lower on Thursday, with the OMX Helsinki 25 down 2.19%. Losses were concentrated in Healthcare, Utilities and Telecoms, while market breadth showed substantially more decliners than advancers. Commodity prices for crude and gold fell, and the dollar ticked slightly higher.
Key points
- The OMX Helsinki 25 fell 2.19% at the close.
- Notable winners included TietoEVRY (HE:TIETO), Elisa (HE:ELISA) and Kesko (HE:KESKOB); notable laggards included Orion B (HE:ORNBV), Fortum (HE:FORTUM) and Outokumpu (HE:OUT1V).
- Commodity benchmarks moved lower - Brent, U.S. crude and April gold futures all posted declines - while EUR/USD was unchanged and the U.S. Dollar Index Futures rose slightly.
Risks and uncertainties
- Sector concentration of losses - Healthcare, Utilities and Telecoms led declines, creating potential sector-specific volatility.
- Commodity price drops - falls in Brent, U.S. crude and gold may feed through to related equities and sectors.
- Broad market downside - with more than 100 decliners versus 65 advancers, overall market momentum was to the downside at the close.