A successful Nkr475m (€62m) initial public offering for Oslo Exchanges has boosted the possibility of listing the Helsinki Stock Exchange (HEX), and confirmed that sentiment towards stock markets is on the up again.

Strong demand for the Oslo Exchanges issue, which was more than three times oversubscribed, meant it could be priced at the top of the range. As well as showing there is interest in Nordic exchanges, the high level of demand for the deal means that HEX will have another benchmark to be compared with. Jukka Ruuska, chief executive officer of HEX, said: &quot'In terms of valuation, it's much better when you have a comparable peer group.&quot