(Updates with full report)

HELSINKI (Thomson Financial) - Nordic markets closed higher, with oil companies posting sharp gains on higher crude prices.

The VINX30 index of the 30 most traded shares closed 0.49 percent firmer at 775.15, while the VINX index of all shares listed in Stockholm, Helsinki, Copenhagen and Oslo closed up 0.68 percent at 109.46.

In Helsinki, the OMX Helsinki 25 index for the largest and most traded shares closed up 1.14 percent at 2,883.68.

Of the gainers, Nokia Oyj reversed earlier losses to close 0.87 percent higher at 18.46 euros, Outokumpu Oyj firmed 3.67 percent at 33.03 euros and UPM-Kymmene Corp finished 1.53 percent higher at 13.26 euros.

Elisa Corp added 0.70 percent to 14.36 euros, while TeliaSonera AB ended 0.53 percent lower at 5.68 euros.

Finnish mobile operators have agreed to charge each other the same interconnection fees from December 2009, but have yet to settle on a figure, telecoms group Elisa Corp said on Wednesday.

Elisa currently collects interconnection fees of 5.1 cents per minute from rival operators whose users wish to connect to a party on its own network.

That figure will drop to 4.9 cents per minute from January 2009, the company said.

Operators plan to hold talks to set a fee from December 2009 at a later date.

Of the losers, TietoEnator Oyj was down 1.82 percent at 16.20 euros and Nordea Bank's Helsinki-listed shares shed 1.25 percent to 11.03 euros.

In Stockholm, the OMX Stockholm 30 index ended up 0.10 percent at 1,012.86.

Lundin Petroleum closed up 3.46 percent at 82.25 crowns.

Lundin Petroleum said it has found oil and gas in the Pi-North prospect located in Block 6/3 and 15/12, production license PL 292, in the North Sea sector of the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).

'Preliminary estimates of gross recoverable reserves from Pi North and Pi South range from 19 to 32 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe).

The well results and reserve potential will be thoroughly evaluated by the partnership to support a likely development decision,' Lundin Petroleum said.

The operator is BG Norge AS. Lundin Petroleum is a partner with 40 percent interest.

Niscayah Group AB (formerly Securitas Systems) closed down 4.46 percent at 15 crowns after it was downgraded to 'neutral' from 'outperform' at Carnegie following the recent first quarter results, with the broker also cutting its 2008-2009 EPS estimates by 9 percent.

Niscayah is trading at a premium to the average estimated 2008-2009 EV/EBIT of its peer group. The valuation alone is no longer supportive, Carnegie said.

Modern Times Group B closed up 0.11 percent at 436.50 crowns.

MTG's CEO Hans-Holger Albrecht said in Svenska Dagbladet that consolidation in pay-TV is necessary.

He also said MTG may be interested in Canal Plus if the price is right.

He sees eastern Europe slowing down after 2011 but profit from eastern Europe is expected to increase from 40 percent to 50 percent of the total profit in three years.

It has won a license in Senegal, its second license in Africa, and aims to have three within the next two years.

Ericsson B closed up 0.77 percent at 15.66 crowns. Ericsson CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg said at the company's Capital Markets Day that he still believes 'it is prudent to plan for a flattish mobile network market in 2008'.

In Denmark, the OMX Copenhagen 20 index closed 1.22 percent higher at 444.41, led by index-heavy Vestas Wind Systems AS., which added 3.64 percent to 598 Danish crowns, and Danisco A/S., which gained 2.93 percent to 333.50 crowns after announcing the launch of a bioethanol production joint venture with U.S.-based DuPont.

NKT Holding AS closed up 1.61 percent at 440.50, after it upped its full year guidance, following strong first quarter performance at partly-owned pipeline-producing unit NKT Flexibles.

Carlsberg AS. ended unchanged at 666 Danish crowns, amid media reports that Finland's Hartwall family would not be interested in signing up for the brewer's coming rights issue.

Oslo's OSEBX benchmark index closed up 1.63 percent at 492.32.

Oil stocks were rising, with heavyweight StatoilHydro leading the gainers on a strong crude oil price. It rose 1.31 percent to 193.80 crowns.

Oil service sector companies also put on hefty gains, with Acergy up 3.94 percent to 131.75 crowns, Seadrill up 1.27 percent to 160 crowns and Subsea 7 moving up 3.77 percent to 144.50 crowns.

Shipping lines Golden Ocean, up 6.62 percent to 37.85 crowns, and Hong-Kong based Jinhui, up 3.31 percent to 62.50 crowns, surged strongly after international freight rates, as quoted on the Baltic exchange, rose nearly 3 percent on the day.

On the results front, oil producer DNO International ASA fell 4.64 percent to 10.08 crowns, after it posted first-quarter pretax profits below expectations, pulled down by higher exploration expenses and other financial costs, but reiterated that investors will see a 'step change' in its oil production once an export licence from Iraq has been secured.

For the first quarter, DNO posted pretax profits of 115.0 million Norwegian crowns, up from 69.5 million last time, but below the 127.0 million consensus forecast of analysts polled by TDN Finans.

Among industrials, fertiliser group Yara International put on more than 4 percent to 423 crowns, as soaring demand for food and fertilsers continued.

Carnegie again hiked its EPS forecasts on the back of soaring fertiliser prices, dealers said.

The broker, which has an 'outperform' recommendation on Yara, said it has increased its 2008 EPS by 13 percent, and its 2009 forecast by 16 percent.

Elsewhere, solar panel maker Renewable Energy put on a handy 4.64 percent to 169.25 crowns, insurer Storebrand gained more than 1 percent to 47.45 and paper producer Norske Skog closed up 1.68 percent to 24.25 crowns.

azer.sawiris@thomsonreuters.com

afs/ms1/afs/cmr

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