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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Stock exchange record tied to low interest rates

Tuesday’s burst of activity on the Oslo Stock Exchange was being linked on Wednesday to low interest rates and the attractiveness of companies benefiting from Norway’s weaker currency. The stock exchange record set by Tuesday’s close came despite the pessimism that’s been creeping into the Norwegian economy since oil prices started to fall last year.

Oil prices rose during the Easter holidays, though, and on Monday when the Oslo Stock Exchange was still closed. That seemed to pump up investors at a time when the value of the Norwegian krone fell again, to trade at just over NOK 8 per US dollar.

The weaker currency has already benefited Norwegian companies that export most of their goods, like Norsk Hydro, because it prices their products more competitively abroad. On Tuesday, the main index of the Oslo Stock Exchange jumped 3.6 percent to 644.8 points, fueled by investors who clearly saw new opportunities during the Easter holidays.

“Exports have seen positive effects from the weaker krone,” Albert Collett of Arctic Fund Management told newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) on Wednesday. Low interest rates have also sent more investors into the stock market, with Collett calling the Oslo Stock Exchange “a good place to be” for the foreseeable future.

newsinenglish.no staff

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