SLOVENIA

Petrol (PETG) expanding retail business to city centres

Petrol, a leading energy company in the country, is planning to expand its retail business to include shops in city centres across the country. The first shops will open in Ljubljana, Kranj, Celje and Maribor by the end of May.
Source: STA

SIJ breaks EUR 1bn revenue mark, but profit drops

The Russian-owned steel and food group SIJ saw its sales revenue exceed EUR 1bn for the time last year, as it rose by about a 20% on 2016 to EUR 1.012bn. Net profit however decreased by about two thirds to EUR 17.6m, show the unaudited results released on Thursday.
Source: STA

Jobless total down 5.2% in March

A total of 81,220 people were registered as jobless at the Employment Service at the end of March, which is 5.2% less than in February and 14.7% less year-on-year, the institution reported on Thursday.
Source: STA

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

International markets fast preview

U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday as tech shares rose following a roller coaster ride in the previous trading day. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.99%, with Boeing and DowDuPont as the best-performing stocks. The S&P 500 gained 0.7, while Nasdaq composite advanced 0.5 percent to 7,076.55. Tech helped lead the move higher, with Facebook jumping 2.7 percent and gains of more than 1.5 percent in Netflix and Amazon.
Facebook's move came after CEO Mark Zuckerberg told reporters he has not seen a noticeable change in user behavior in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal.
In economic news, weekly jobless claims totaled 242,000, more than the expected 225,000. Still, claims remained near their lowest levels since the 1970s.
European equities closed sharply higher Thursday as trade tensions eased. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 2.4 percent higher provisionally with every sector rising. Overall, market sentiment was driven by news that the U.S. is willing to sit down with the Chinese authorities and fix their trade divergences.
Looking across the European benchmark, Ubisoft topped the gains, up by 10.77 percent. The success of its latest video game "Far Cry 5" led to a ratings upgrade and drove the shares higher.
To minimize current political risk, it is good to focus on the relationship between Europe and China, which is characterized by the low likelihood of the occurrence of customs wars. Chinese buyers already account for more than 35% of the revenues of European prestigious brands, with the rejuvenation of the Chinese population, this percentage is likely to slightly increase. European brands that achieve high levels of sales in China continue to see positive returns in their year to date market valuations, namely Swatch (UHR SW) 5.31 percent, Louis Vuitton (MC FP) 3.23 percent, Gucci - Kering (KER FP) 2.06 percent in Prada (1913 HK) with 33.75 percent. All with positive year to date returns and seem to not be affected by the protectionist policies on the relation China and US.
Source: CNBC, Ilirika

SERBIA

Belgrade Stock Exchange closed due to Easter holidays

Back to news