Stockholm Shares Close Lower; Handelsbanken Higher,SKF and OMX Lower

Stockholm Shares Close Lower; Handelsbanken Higher,SKF and OMX Lower Stockholm shares closed slightly lower, with Handelsbanken bucking the negative trend to close firmly in positive territory after its better-than-expected results, but with SKF and OMX moving lower after their results. The OMX Stockholm index closed down 0.57 pct at 421.42, while the OMX Stockholm 30 index ended 0.66 pct lower at 1,291.75. Turnover was 24.80 bln skr. The main sector movers were healthcare, which closed down 0.97 pct; industrials, down 1.37 pct; and banks, 1.09 pct higher. The major movers within these sectors included AstraZeneca (nyse: AZN - news - people ), down 1.87 pct at 367 skr bid; Scania B, down 3.58 pct at 188.50; and Handelsbanken A, up 2.81 pct at 201.50. Handelsbanken reported better-than-expected results on all income streams, with the operating profit coming in at 8.479 bln skr, versus market expectations of of 7.835 bln skr. SSAB closed up 1.67 pct at 274.50, after slumping almost 14 pct yesterday after its second quarter results.However SEB Enskilda cut the specialty steel maker to '2/Hold' from '1/Buy'. 'SSAB's weaker-than-expected Q2 2007 report did not provide the catalyst that would have enabled us to raise our earnings expectations significantly on a standalone basis. Consequently, we have downgraded our recommendation to 2/Hold from 1/Buy, as the upside to our DCF-based 287 skr target price is less than 10 pct despite the sharp share price correction,' it said in a note. SKF B closed down 1.36 pct at 145.50, on profit-taking after its strong Q2 report. Gustav Lindskog, SKF analyst at Morgan Stanley (nyse: MS - news - people ), said he expects analysts to raise their estimates following today's strong report. It's pretty decent. The quality numbers look fine. Good price mix, inline volume growth, somewhat better margins primarily in service, and it all looks fairly solid,' said Lindskog, 'So consequently people will take up their estimates.' Nordic and Baltic bourse owner OMX closed down 0.46 pct at 215.50, after reporting second quarter results largely in line with expectations. OMX is currently the subject of a takeover bid from Nasdaq, and there has been speculation that the owner of the Dubai stock exchange might lodge a counterbid. However OMX's CEO Magnus Boecker said he does not expect a rival bid to Nasdaq's to emerge.Of all the knowledge we have, we still don't expect a rival bid based on the facts we have today,' Boecker said. Tele2 B closed up 1.05 pct at 120.75. Tele2 said the sale of of its Tele2 French broadband and fixed line operations to Vivendi's SFR, will result in a positive exchange rate effect of approximately 430 mln skr in the third quarter. Lundin Petroleum closed down 0.65 pct at 76.25. The company said it will sell its wholly-owned Venezuelan subsidiary, Lundin Latina de Petroleos SA (Lundin Venezuela), to PetroFalcon Corporation in a series of transactions valued at total of 49 mln usd, which will see Lundin Petroleum become PetroFalcon's largest shareholder with a 42.5 pct stake.