Helsinki shares close higher supported by gains in engineers

Helsinki shares close higher supported by gains in engineers - UPDATE

	Published : Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:41 By : Agencies Print this Story

(Updates with full report)

HELSINKI (Thomson Financial) - Helsinki shares closed higher, with engineers leading the way and forestry stocks also among the gainers amid M&A talk.

The OMX Helsinki 25 ended up 1.09 pct at 3,330.72 and the OMX Helsinki all-share index closed 0.67 pct higher at 12,512.45 on 1.6 bln eur turnover.

Kone ended up 3.80 pct at 57.70 eur, Konecranes up 1.56 pct at 27.97 eur and Outotec up 1.48 pct at 49.47 eur.

Metso ended also higher -- up 2.36 pct at 42.99 eur-- after recent weakness following last week's disappointing third-quarter results and an ensuing wave of broker downgrades. News the company has won an order for a paper machine from Portucel that could be worth up to 200 mln eur was providing some support today.

Outokumpu finished 1.51 pct higher at 26.30 eur after the stainless steel group said production at its Tornio Works mill was ramped up during the week end and is now capable of meeting all orders.

Other major gainers were Amer Sports, up 3.42 pct at 18.15 eur, and YIT, the builder, whose shares rose 3.43 pct to 21.15 eur.

Goldman Sachs has upgraded its rating on YIT to 'buy' from 'neutral', while cutting the target price to 25 eur from 27.5 eur, according to dealers, following the company's third-quarter results.

M&A speculation gave a boost to Stora Enso as Norwegian business daily Finansavisen cited unnamed sources at the weekend as saying that Stora Enso and Norway's Norske Skog could merge and were negotiating a 'structural' deal.

Both companies declined to comment.

Stora Enso R shares closed up 2.77 pct at 12.24 eur, while UPM-Kymmene rose 0.94 pct to 15.04 eur and M-real B ended down 0.26 pct at 3.85 eur.

'It's not the first rumour concerning the two companies,' said eQ Bank analyst Bengt Dahlstrom.

'An outright merger does not seem likely, though. An asset swap or merging of individual units into a joint venture could be possible, but only on favourable terms for Stora Enso.'

Underperforming were Nokia, down 0.11 pct at 27.61 eur, and Uponor, off 0.32 pct at 18.50 eur.

Deutsche Bank downgraded Uponor to 'hold' from 'buy' this morning, with a revised price target of 24 eur from 20 on valuation grounds, according to analysts.

azer.sawiris@thomson.com

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Helsinki shares close higher supported by gains in engineers - UPDATE