Market close overview
Finland's equity market closed the week with a modest decline as sector-level weakness pushed the benchmark lower. At the close in Helsinki, the OMX Helsinki 25 fell 0.52%.
Winners and losers
The session's strongest performer on the OMX Helsinki 25 was Qt Group Oyj (HE:QTCOM), which advanced 2.83% or 0.56 points to finish at 20.34. Neste Oyj (HE:NESTE) also recorded gains, rising 2.15% or 0.53 points to close at 25.15, and Fortum Oyj (HE:FORTUM) added 1.08% or 0.21 points to end at 19.74.
On the downside, KONE Oyj (HE:KNEBV) led decliners, sliding 3.72% or 2.24 points to close at 57.90. Outokumpu Oyj (HE:OUT1V) fell 2.46% or 0.13 points to 5.14, while Metso Oyj (HE:METSO) dropped 2.32% or 0.38 points to end the session at 16.00.
Market breadth
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the Helsinki Stock Exchange by 106 to 66, with 17 stocks finishing unchanged. The negative breadth underpinned the overall index decline despite the gains in several notable stocks.
Notable milestones
Shares of Neste Oyj (HE:NESTE) reached a 52-week high during the session, finishing up 2.15% or 0.53 at 25.15.
Commodities and currency moves
Commodities saw sharp moves elsewhere in global trading. Brent oil for May delivery rose 8.30% or 7.09 to $92.50 a barrel. U.S. crude for April delivery gained 11.43% or 9.26, settling at $90.27 a barrel. The April Gold Futures contract traded higher, up 1.38% or 70.29 to $5,148.99 a troy ounce.
In foreign-exchange markets, EUR/USD was effectively unchanged, moving 0.02% to 1.16, and EUR/GBP was unchanged at 0.33% to 0.87. The US Dollar Index Futures declined 0.37% to 98.94.
Summary takeaways
- The OMX Helsinki 25 closed down 0.52% as sector losses outweighed individual stock gains.
- Qt Group, Neste and Fortum were the session's top performers by percentage gain.
- KONE, Outokumpu and Metso registered the largest percentage declines among index constituents.