SLOVENIA
Hisense publishes takeover intent, Gorenje clearing three supervisory seats
China's Hisense published today its intent for the acquisition of all the shares of Gorenje. The Slovenian household appliance maker in turn announced it would leave three seats vacant for the new strategic partner as it appoints the supervisory board on 12 June. Moreover, no dividend payout is envisaged.
Source: STA
Overview of latest GDP growth forecasts for Slovenia
The latest GDP growth forecasts indicate Slovenia's economy will expand at a rate in excess of 4% this year before slowing down to over 3% in 2019. Below is an overview of the latest forecasts.
Source: STA
Demand for workers highest in decade, SURS data show
The number of vacancies and occupied jobs rose in the first quarter of 2018, putting Slovenia's job vacancy rate at 2.5%, the highest since 2008, data released by the national Statistics Office (SURS) on Thursday showed. This reflects employers' complaints that workers are hard to find.
Source: STA
EBRD significantly improves Slovenia's growth forecast
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has significantly improved Slovenia's growth outlook in its spring forecast. According to the institution's projections, Slovenia's GDP will expand by 4%, an increase of 1.1 points compared to its November forecast.
Source: STA
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
Dow rallies nearly 200 points, notches 6-day winning streak; European markets close mainly lower after BOE rate decision
The Dow Jones industrial average rose sharply on Thursday, posting its sixth straight day of gains, following the release of weaker-than-expected U.S. inflation data. The index gained 0.8%, while S&P 500 was up 0.9 percent to 2,723.07, with utilities and telecom both rising more than 1 percent. The Nasdaq composite advanced 0.9 percent.
In corporate news, Booking Holdings dropped more than 4.5 percent after giving weaker-than-expected quarterly guidance. The company reported better-than-forecast earnings and revenue for the previous quarter, however.
European stock markets endured mixed fortunes Thursday, as investors reacted to a monetary policy meeting by the U.K.'s central bank. The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended provisionally 0.12 percent lower than its previous closing price, with major bourses and sectors pointing in opposite directions.
Europe's telecoms stocks were among those to lead the losses, down 0.94 percent amid earnings news. BT posted weaker-than-anticipated figures over the first three months of the year and announced plans to cut 13,000 managerial and back-office jobs. Shares of the company were 7.5 percent lower for the day.
Source: CNBC, Ilirika
SERBIA
NBS: Key policy rate kept on hold
At yesterday’s meeting, the NBS Executive Board voted to keep the key policy rate on hold, at 3.0%. In making such a decision, the NBS Executive Board was primarily guided by the expected movement in inflation and its underlying factors going forward, and the effects of past monetary policy easing. According to the May projection, the Executive Board expects y-o-y inflation to gradually approach the target, after reaching this year’s low in April.
Source: NBS
IMF Mission recommends improving the planning and realization of public investments in Serbia
IMF mission in Serbia ascertained yesterday in conversation with the Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic that the reconstruction of Serbian Railways is carried out with success and recommend an upgrade in the public investment planning and realization process. James Roaf, Head of the IMF mission for Serbia, said that the department led by Mihajlovic significantly contributed to the successful ending of the previous IMF arrangement.
Source: Ekapija
MAT: Production declined in March
In March this year, manufacturing industry’s production was at the same level as in March last year and which causes concern regarding the GDP growth in the remaining quarters – said the editor of the renowned Macroeconomic Analysis and Trends (MAT) magazine, Ivan Nikolic . At the presentation of the new issue of MAT, he added that the stagnation in the manufacturing industry was compensated by the 21.6 percent growth of the production of the electric power industry, which is why industrial production continued to grow by 4.1 percent in March compared to the same period last year.
Source: Serbiamonitor
