SLOVENIA
Slovenia's GDP growth slows to 4.6% y/y in Q1
Slovenia's annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to 4.6% year-on-year in the first quarter from 6.0% in the preceding three-month period, the statistics office said on Thursday, citing non-seasonally adjusted data. On a seasonally adjusted basis, Slovenia's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.6% over the previous quarter and grew by 5.0% over the first quarter of 2017, following an increase of 1.9% quarter-on-quarter and 6.0% on the year in the October-December period of 2017, the statistics office said in a statement.
Source: SeeNews
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
Dow drops more than 200 points as Trump tariffs reignite trade-war fears; European stocks close lower for the same reason
Stocks fell on Thursday after President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on the European Union, Mexico and Canada, sparking fears the U.S. could enter a trade war with some key partners. Dow lost 1%, S&P500 was down 0.69%, while Nasdaq lost 0.27%.
Boeing and Caterpillar — two companies that are vulnerable to trade tensions given the large amount of business they do overseas — fell 1.7 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile in economic news, the Commerce Department said consumer spending jumped 0.6 percent last month, the biggest gain in five months. The department also said the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index — the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation — rose 0.2 percent in April.
In corporate news, General Motors shares shot up 12.9 percent after the company said the SoftBank Vision Fund will invest $2.25 billion in the automaker's self-driving cars.
European stocks closed lower Thursday, after the U.S. said it would impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the European Union, Canada and Mexico. The pan-European Stoxx 600 shed gains from earlier in the session, closing provisionally down 0.63 percent, with most sectors in negative territory and major bourses mixed.
Europe's bank stocks were among the worst performers on Thursday, dragged down by Deutsche Bank. The German bank slumped to the bottom of the European benchmark after the Wall Street Journal reported that its U.S. business was designated by the Federal Reserve as being in "troubled condition." Shares were down by almost 7 percent.
Source: CNBC
SERBIA
Serbia's GDP grows 4.6% in Q1
Serbia's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by a real 4.6% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018, the country's statistical office said on Thursday. On a quarterly comparison basis, Serbia's economy expanded by 1.5% in the first quarter of 2018, the statistical office said. The first quarter of 2018 saw a significant real growth of gross value added in the construction sector, of 26.4% year-on-year, while the sectors of industry and water supply and wastewater management expanded by 5.3%.
Source: SeeNews
Fiat might lose subsidies this autumn – Italian company to announce five-year plan on June 1
All 235,915 workers at the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, including around 2,000 employees in Kragujevac, are looking at CEO Sergio Marchionne, who has announced that he will announce a new five-year plan of the seventh biggest vehicle manufacturer in the world on June 1. The president of the Autonomous Trade Union of FCA Serbia, Zoran Markovic, says that the agreement of the Republic of Serbia and FCA is valid, not until the end of this year, as is often said in the public, but until 2023. The agreement on subsidies and other benefits provided by Serbia is valid until October 19, and the agreement says that Serbia can offer Fiat either a part of its stake or all of it, 33%, by 2023 – he added.
Source: Ekapija
Trade deficit in 4 months 2018, up 36.2%, SROS reported
The overall external trade in the Republic of Serbia for the period January - April 2018 amounted to USD 14690.8 million - which was an increase of 27.8% compared to the same period 2017. The value of exports amounted to USD 6302.1 million, which was 24.0% increase when compared to the same period last year, while the value of imports amounted to USD 8388.7 million, which was 30.8% increase relative to the same period last year. The deficit amounted to USD 2086.5 million, which was an increase of 57.0% in relation to the same period last year. The deficit expressed in Euros amounted to 1697.6 million, which was an increase of 36.2% compared to the same period last year.
Source: SORS
