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Friday, March 29, 2024

Oslo stocks dive, oil prices, too

Falling oil prices were among the reasons blamed for a steep dive by the Oslo Stock Exchange on Tuesday to its lowest level so far this year. When markets closed late in the afternoon, the so-called Børsen had fallen farther than most other exchanges around Europe.

Investors were selling stocks traded in Oslo all day long. PHOTO: Views and News

When trading ended at 5:30pm, the main index of the Oslo Stock Exchange was down 5.28 percent, to 326.68. The decline made for the worst trading day of the year, with the index reaching its lowest level since the end of last year.

Share prices started tumbling when the market opened at 9am, and kept falling all day long.

The 5.28 percent decline in Oslo compared to a 3.1 percent fall in London, a 4 percent dive in Paris and a 3.33 percent decline in Frankfurt, reports Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). Among the major exchanges, only the stock market in Madrid fell more, by 5.45 percent, while Milan stocks were down 4.44 percent.

Analysts blamed the steep decline in Oslo on falling prices for a barrel of North Sea crude oil, down to USD 77.58 on Monday and to USD 75.05 on Tuesday. 

Worries over high public debt levels in many European countries, fears for European banks and disappointing economic indicators from both the US and China also were thought to have prompted investors to dump shares. Some analysts fear European banks won’t be able to meet payments due Thursday on huge loans from the European Central Bank.

Among Norwegian stocks hammered on Tuesday were Norsk Hydro, Sevan Marine and Statoil. The latter is normally a locomotive on the Oslo exchange, but its share price fell 3.96 percent to NOK 126.

Views and News staff

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