SLOVENIA
Počivalšek and Bavarian minister talk cooperation in industry 4.0
Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek and Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy and Hubert Aiwanger highlighted industry 4.0 and digitalisation as potential fields of closer future cooperation as Počivalšek started a two-day visit to Germany on Monday.
Source: STA
Positive day on stock market
The Ljubljana Stock Exchange's SBI TOP index added 0.50% to close at 883.49 points on Monday as the majority of large names recorded gains. Pharmaceutical company Krka (+0.98%) accounted for almost EUR 518,000 of the total daily volume of around EUR 1.2 million. Port operator Luka Koper was one of the biggest gainers (+2.22%).
Source: STA
Labour Ministry confident minimum wage raise can proceed
The macroeconomic situation in Slovenia, both in the past and now, as well as the one projected in forecasts, will allow the country to go ahead with the plan to raise the minimum wage, the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities said on Monday.
Source: STA
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
Nasdaq drops more than 1%, enters correction territory as regulation fears batter big tech; European markets close higher after Wall Street erases losses
Tech stocks fell on Monday, June’s first day of trading, amid reports that the U.S. government is planning to target a host of big companies in the industry with antitrust and business practice probes. Shares of Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook and Apple all weighed on the market during Monday’s session. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.6% to enter correction territory, closing more than 10% below its record high set in late April at 7,333.02. The S&P 500 slid 0.3% to 2,744.45 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day just above breakeven at 24,819.78. Alphabet shares pulled back 6.1% after reports said the Justice Department is preparing to launch an antitrust probe on Google. Meanwhile, Facebook dropped 7.5% after The Wall Street Journal reported the Federal Trade Commission would be able to look into Facebook’s practices and how they impact digital competition. European stocks see-sawed Monday, as fears over the current state of global trade remained in place. Sharp early losses were erased during the afternoon session. The pan-European Stoxx 600 finished provisionally up 0.31% by the closing bell. Stocks in the baskets of Chemicals and Basic Resources performed well on average while Banks, Travel & Leisure and Technology struggled. In terms of individual stocks, shares of German semiconductor manufacturer Infineon Technologies fell 8% after it announced a deal to acquire U.S.-based Cypress Semiconductor Corporation. Cypress shares jumped 25% in the U.S. following the deal. German digital payments company Wirecard saw its stock climb 3.1% after its CEO Markus Braun tweeted that the company was “steering towards an outstanding first half year of 2019.”
Source: CNBC
SERBIA
KMBN: Komercijalna Banka might be sold for EUR 415 million
Half a million euros is the value set by the Government of Serbia for 100% of the capital of Komercijalna Banka, whose sale is planned to take place by the end of the year, Blic reports, citing unnamed sources. Considering that up to 83.2% of the bank's capital is offered, the bank might be sold for about EUR 415 million, which is around EUR 15 million more than the bank's current market price at the Belgrade Stock Exchange. As an unnamed source told the daily, in that case, the ratio between the market price and the book value of a share is 0.85, a good price in today's circumstances
Source: Ekapija
Serbian import rises still faster vs. export
Official statistics indicate that exports of goods went up by 7.3% y-o-y in the period January–April, led by the rise in manufacturing exports (5.2%), recorded in 16 of the 23 branches, as well as by the upswing in agricultural exports (42.4%). At the same time, imports expanded by 9.0% y-o-y, buoyed by higher imports of raw material and equipment.
Source: NBS
Unemployment in 1Q19 ta 12.1%
Based on the Labour Force Survey, the unemployment rate in Q1 2019 was 12.1%, 2.7 pp lower than in the same period a year earlier. At the same time, the employment rate climbed by 2.3 pp, to 47.4%, while the participation rate of working age population edged up by 1.4 pp, to 67.2%.
Source: NBS
