Stocks in Helsinki come under pressure but recover in late Tuesday trading

Banks lose ground in wake of Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy; software developers TietoEnator shed 11%

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Fears engendered by the financial meltdown going on across the Atlantic sent stock prices in Helsinki plunging on Tuesday. However, the decline slowed as the afternoon wore on, and by the close of trading the OMX Helsinki index was down only 1.5%, even though at one stage in the day it had been running at well over 3% below the opening value.
      Investors were particularly worried about the position of banks and other financial services companies, since their operations have direct ties with the ongoing financial crisis.
      Pohjola Bank took a hit, falling 5.5% on the day, while Nordea was off 3%.
      Insurers Sampo actually finished the day in positive territory, up around 0.5%, but earlier on it, too, had seen losses.
     
Nordea issued a statement in the morning that it had no credit exposure in terms of bond holdings or credit facilities to the beleaguered Lehman Brothers, the global financial services company and the US’s fourth-largest investment bank, which filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on Monday.
     
The biggest fall recorded on Tuesday among large companies was in the stock of software developers TietoEnator, which saw 10.9% erased from its value. Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia was down by only some 1.8%.
      Forest industry giants UPM and Stora Enso were off 2.4% and 3.1% respectively.
      Nokian Renkaat (Nokian Tyres) was down 5.6%, continuing the slide begun on Monday following a profit warning issued by German rivals Continental.
     
On Tuesday Finnair reported the breakdown of discussions with unions representing the Finnish flag carrier’s staff over the employer's offer to cut or freeze pay, meaning that the only means of acheiving savings will be through job reductions.
      The airline’s stock rose around 0.5% on the day.
     
Wednesday trading began mixed, with an initial sharpish fall tempered and turned around such that by noon the OMX general index was down only around 0.1% on its Tuesday close of 7526.25.
      Nokia was down slightly, while Nordea and Pohjola had recovered some of Tuesday's losses, and TietoEnator had bounced back and was trading just over six per cent above the opening price.


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