HELSINKI: Finland stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Healthcare, Oil & Gas and Utilities sectors led shares higher. At the close in Helsinki, the OMX Helsinki 25 rose 0.54%. The best performers of the session on the OMX Helsinki 25 were Valmt (HE:VALMT), which rose 3.90% or 0.53 points to trade at 14.12 at the close. Meanwhile, Cargotec Oyj (HE:CGCBV) added 2.75% or 1.14 points to end at 42.55 and Outotec Oyj (HE:OTE1V) was up 1.92% or 0.095 points to 5.055 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Nokian Renkaat Oyj (HE:NRE1V), which fell 2.09% or 0.74 points to trade at 34.65 at the close. Telia Company AB (HE:TELIA1) declined 0.67% or 0.026 points to end at 3.862 and Metsa Board Oyj B (HE:METSB) was down 0.23% or 0.015 points to 6.575. Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Helsinki Stock Exchange by 72 to 63 and 18 ended unchanged. Brent oil for March delivery was down 1.68% or 0.93 to $54.54 a barrel. Elsewhere in commodities trading, Crude oil for delivery in February fell 1.73% or 0.91 to hit $51.57 a barrel, while the February Gold contract rose 0.05% or 0.55 to trade at $1213.45 a troy ounce. EUR/USD was down 0.26% to 1.0684, while EUR/GBP rose 0.57% to 0.8678. The US Dollar Index was up 0.47% at 100.73.