At the beginning of the week, European stock markets looked for a clear direction. Shortly after the market opening, Germany’s Dax was down 0.1 percent, France’s CAC 40 was up 0.1 percent, and Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.2 percent.
The broad Euro Stoxx 600 was down 0.1 percent.
The Swedish newspaper Dagens Industri said, citing the information it had received, that the Finnish Metson the owners have a strong desire to merge the Swedish company Sandvikin with mining parts. Sandvik’s mining business makes up about 60 percent of the company’s turnover.
According to Di, the decisive factor for the completion of the merger is whether Sandvik has a major owner Fredrik Lundberg ready to break up Sandvik. According to the magazine, Metso’s two largest owners, the Finnish state’s Solidium and an activist investor Christer Gardellin investment company Cevian would very likely be in favor of the merger.
After the opening of the stock exchange, Metso’s share was up by a good six percent, and Sandvik’s share was up by 3.1 percent.
This week, the eyes of the markets are on the annual meeting of the US central bank, the Fed. The minutes of the Fed and the Governor Jerome Powell will reveal the central bank’s views on Friday. In general, rapid reductions in key interest rates are expected both in the United States and in Europe.