The main index on the Oslo Stock Exchange ended the day down 0.82 percent on Wednesday.

In the rest of Europe, on the other hand, the arrows were pointing largely upwards, after unrest hit world markets on Tuesday. The stock exchanges in Paris, London and Frankfurt are all up at closing in Oslo, and the same applies to Stockholm and Copenhagen.

A jump in the rental market on Tuesday contributed to a sharp downturn for technology stocks on Wall Street. The Nasdaq index closed 2.6 percent Tuesday night, but we appear to be picking up some of the lost Wednesday afternoon.

The decline continued in Asia the morning after the Tokyo Stock Exchange led down with a decline of 2.8 percent.

Autostore fell after patent play

British Ocado sent out a press release on Wednesday that Autostore has withdrawn parts of its claim related to that of three patent families in British law. Furthermore, Ocado writes that this is a «significant victory» for the company.

The background is at Autostore has sued Ocado for patent infringement.

Autostore director Mats Hovland Vikse replies in an e-mail to E24 that all processes continue as before and the company has strong faith in winning.

The Autostore share fell sharply after the move from Ocado, but recovered a lot shortly after. The stock ended down 4.87 percent.

Shipping winner increased further

The container shipping company MPC Container Ships, which last year was around 445 percent on the Oslo Stock Exchange, is among the winners on the stock exchange on Wednesday.

The rise comes after the company’s market update on Tuesday evening, where it is known, among other things, that it is for an extra dividend in the first quarter and then it will be in the process of dividends every quarter through 2022.

The share price will also be raised by subsequent positive analysis updates, as DNB Markets raises its price target on the shipping share to DKK 33, from the previous DKK 26.1.

The MPC share ends the day up 7.51 percent, and is among the most traded.

Oil prices are down slightly

The oil price climbed recently, reaching the highest level since 2014 on Tuesday.

On Wednesday afternoon, the price (Brent spot) is slightly down for the day at $ 88.41 a barrel, thus holding on to much of the upturn.

The oil share Equinor helped to pull the Oslo Stock Exchange down. The stock fell 2.75 percent, and became by far the most traded.

Aker BP fell 1, 32 percent, after rising nearly 7 percent the day before.

Interest rate jump

High inflation and the prospect of a tighter monetary policy by the US Federal Reserve and the ripple effects of the new omicron variant of the corona virus have helped to weigh on the world’s stock markets heading into the new year.

The last 24 hours have also been spent on US government securities climbing to levels that have not been set before the corona pandemic hit, something that has weighed on growth and technology stocks.

The yield on ten-year US government bonds plummeted to 1.85 percent on Tuesday night – its highest level since January 2020. On Wednesday afternoon, it is at about the same level.

US government interest rates tend to carry interest rates in the bond market. Since many companies rely on financing through this market, this can mean that borrowing costs increase, which in turn can lead to lower earnings.

For growth stocks, ie companies that are highly priced against earnings, in the belief that they will grow quickly, this makes the promises of profit less valuable. The rise in the rental market thus often coincides with a decline in growth and technology shares.

Signals of forthcoming interest rate hikes from the US Federal Reserve are pointed out as the reason for the rise in interest rates.