By Sven Grundberg

 
TODAY'S CALENDAR - All times GMT 
Nordic Macro 
 
0800 Norway Trade Balance, July 
 
Other Macro 
 
1230 US CPI 
     US Initial jobless Claims 
1315 US Industrial Production 
1400 US NAHB Housing Market Index 
     US Philly Fed Index 
 
Nordic Equities 
 
0500 Oriflame 2Q 
     Veidekke 2Q 
0600 H&M July Sales 
     Clas Ohlson July Sales 
     Ratos 2Q 
NA   Torm 2Q 
NA   Ekornes 
 
IN FOCUS:

Focus on Thursday is on July sales figures from Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB (HM-B.SK), due at 0600 GMT. Analysts polled by Dow Jones expect July sales to be 10.2% higher on the year, while same store sales are seen 0.6% higher year-on-year.

H&M, which is battling Spanish rival Inditex SA (ITX.MC), has been nagged by a stagnant European market and has been investing heavily in a slew new initiatives, including a drive to tap new markets, grow its retail footprint and boost its online sales. Its second quarter profits, however, were down 10% compared with a year ago.

Internationally, Wednesday was a busy day for data, as fresh economic output figures showed that the euro-zone economy has finally emerged from its longest postwar contraction. The Euro-zone economy returned to growth in the second quarter after six straight quarters of contraction, expanding at a quarterly rate of 0.3%.

Euro zone growth was largely driven by Germany, the block's strongest and largest economy. Against the expectations of many economists, the French economy also played its part. But an even greater source of surprise was Portugal, where economic activity picked up by 1.1%.

On Thursday, focus will shift from the euro zone to the U.S. and a number of data releases, including CPI, industrial production, initial jobless claims and the National Association of Home Builders' housing market index. The latter comes ahead of U.S. housing starts and building permits data on Friday.

In a note, Danske Bank said it expects to see a rebound in the U.S. housing market from last month's soft readings, with likely higher housing starts and building permits. It added, however, that the NAHB index "is likely to decrease slightly after several months of improvements."

 
FOREX: 
EUR/NOK 
Latest 0150 GMT 7.8074-160 
Previous 2150 GMT 7.8075-152 
%Chg +0.00 
 
EUR/SEK 
Latest 0150 GMT 8.6245-322 
Previous 2150 GMT 8.6287-379 
%Chg -0.06 
 
USD/NOK 
Latest 0150 GMT 5.8876-932 
Previous 2150 GMT 5.8906-55 
%Chg -0.05 
 
 
USD/SEK 
Latest 0150 GMT 6.5038-86 
Previous 2150 GMT 6.5102-62 
%Chg -0.11 
 
 
NORDIC CURRENCIES:

Sweden's industrial production rose 3% in the month June compared with a fall of 2.6% in May, but fell 4% on the year, according to a data release on Wednesday.

The figures easily beat expectations for a 1.8% monthly gain and a 5.2% drop on the year, lending support to the Swedish krona, which gained ground versus both the euro and dollar.

Still, the Swedish industry is struggling, Nordea analyst Torbjorn Isaksson said.

"Despite the jump in June the overall trend has still been weak in recent months," Mr. Isaksson said.

Swedish industrial production remains weaker than Germany and the recovery in the largest Nordic economy will likely be slow, he added.

On Thursday, focus will be on Norway's July trade balance data, due to be published at 0800 GMT.

 
 STOCK INDEXES: 
 
OMXN40  1195.89   +5.70   +0.5% 
OMXS30  1262.48   +2.04   +0.2% 
OBX      464.38   +3.44   +0.8% 
OMXC20   566.70   -1.37   -0.2% 
OMXH25  2455.31   +9.75   +0.4% 
 
Brent  $110.58    +0.38   +0.4% 
 
NORDIC MARKETS:

On Thursday investors will be eyeing Swedish fashion retailer H&M's July sales figures, before turning attention to a number of U.S. data releases scheduled for publishing in the afternoon.

Analysts polled by Dow Jones expect H&M July sales to be 10.2% higher on the year, while same store sales are seen 0.6% higher year-on-year.

U.S. data releases are under increased scrutiny as investors attempt to guess how long the Federal Reserve will proceed with its bond purchasing initiative, after the Fed's policy-setting committee in June signaled plans to scale back its Treasury and mortgage-bond purchases providing that the U.S. economy continue to show signs of strength.

"People are trying to get some kind of hint on when the tapering of asset purchases will start," said Michael Canborn, a market analyst at IG markets.

Among Thursday's most important data releases are industrial production data 1315 GMT and the Philly Fed index at 1400 GMT.

 
ENERGY:

benchmarks--Nymex WTI crude and ICE Brent crude--have settled higher for four straight sessions. U.S. oil inventories fell more than expected, by 2.8 million barrels to a seven-month low in the week ended Aug. 9, according to data from the EIA. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a drop of 1.5 million barrels. "Inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery point dropped for the sixth consecutive week, reaching their lowest in 17 months," Phillip Futures said. Brent crude is trading at its highest level since early April, supported by increased violence in Egypt, which is home to the Suez Canal and Sumed pipeline that transport Middle Eastern oil. Egypt's crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood protesters Wednesday turned deadly with more than 278 people killed across the country. Nymex WTI crude was up 24c at $107.09/bbl, Brent was up 38c at $110.58/bbl.

 
NEWS ROUNDUP:

FINLAND: Finnair OYJ (FIA1S.HE), the Finnish airline, Wednesday said it swung to a second-quarter net profit as earnings were boosted by the sale of its stake in Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA (NAS.OS), but downgraded its full-year turnover guidance following the significant weakening of the Japanese yen against the euro.

DENMARK: Jyske Bank A/S (JYSK.KO), the Danish bank, swung to a net profit in the second quarter as net interest income rose and loan losses declined.

SWEDEN: Holmen AB (HOLM-B.SK), the Swedish paper and packaging company, reported a decline in second-quarter net profit as lower selling prices for printing paper and a stronger Swedish krona weighed on results.

NORWAY: Kongsberg Gruppen ASA (KOG.OS), the Norwegian conglomerate, said a solid order backlog and a positive trend in its oil and gas business provides a strong platform for the second-half of the year after it posted a drop in second-quarter net profit.

NORWAY: DOF ASA (DOF.OS), the Norwegian offshore engineer, said Wednesday that its DOF Subsea unit has been awarded contracts in the Atlantic region and Brazil worth a total of NOK750 million.

SWEDEN: Volkswagen AG (VOW.XE) is facing more criticism related to its controlling stake in truck maker Scania AB (SCV-A.SK), as a group representing Swedish private investors asks for an investigation into how the German auto maker will squeeze synergies from its stable of commercial vehicle assets without diminishing Scania's value.

Write to Sven Grundberg at sven.grundberg@dowjones.com; Twitter: @svengrundberg

(Johannes Ledel in Stockholm contributed to this report.)