Analysis & Research

In Nordea’s Economic Outlook out today the headline ‘A glimpse of hope’ refers to the new seemingly more favourable prospects for the global economy after the financial drama of 2011.

The fourth edition of the Nordea CSR Report covering initiatives and activities in 2011 is now published.

Facebook will float on the stock exchange, and speculations are that the company’s market cap will end up at USD 100bn.

Despite a softer fundamental supply/demand balance, the Brent oil price is still hovering around USD 110/barrel as the political risk premium has increased markedly since mid-December.

The clock is ticking – Monday is vital for the oil market and oil prices as the EU members will meet to finalize new sanctions against Iran. International pressure is mounting on Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment program

While softer supply/demand balances point to weaker oil prices in H1 2012, global geopolitical risk outweighs the bearish fundamental signal.

At the beginning of 2012 most observers and analysts expect the sovereign debt crisis to rumble on and perhaps even deteriorate further.

Don’t despair if there’s no snow this Christmas, if there are no icy waters to test your skates on or your skis remain unwaxed in the booth – you won’t be bored because there’ll be a lot of exciting news from the oil market!

EU leaders are not expected to agree on a grand bargain to contain the debt crisis – at least not on this side of Christmas. Instead European Central Bank president Drahgi on 8 December will cut rates and offer 2-3 year LTRO’s, signalling leading rates will be lower for longer.

Today, the General Council of the Riksbank, decided to appoint Kerstin af Jochnick and Per Jansson as new members of the Executive Board of the Riksbank.