SLOVENIA
Employers optimistic about job prospects in next six months
Slovenian employers are optimistic regarding employment prospects in the next six months, shows a survey of carried out by the Statistics Office. They have announced 3% job growth or around 19,400 new jobs, with the most promising trends recorded in the construction sector.
Source: STA
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
German Trade Surplus Widens in April
The German trade surplus increased to EUR 20.4 billion in April of 2018 from EUR 17.8 billion in the same month a year earlier, as exports rose more than imports. In April, outbound shipments went up by 9.3 percent from a year earlier to EUR 9110.3 billion while imports grew by 8.2 percent to EUR 89.9 billion.
Source: TA
China Imports Hit Record High in May
Imports to China rose 26 percent from a year earlier to an all-time high of USD 187.95 billion in May of 2018, after a 21.5 percent rise in a month earlier and beating market expectations of a 18.7 percent increase. It is the fastest growth in inbound shipments since January. Purchases of iron rose markedly to 94.14 million tonnes from 82.56 million tonnes in a month earlier and from 91.52 million tonnes in the same month of 2017.
Dow closes about 100 points higher, but tech sends Nasdaq lower; European markets close slightly lower, dragged down by travel and leisure stocks
The Dow Jones industrial average rose on Thursday, led by gains in McDonald's. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq composite index snapped a four-day winning streak as declines in Facebook and other major tech names pushed the sector lower.
The 30-stock index closed 95.02 points higher at 25,241.41 as McDonald's rose more than 4 percent. The Nasdaq composite dropped 0.7 percent to 7,635.07 — a day after closing at an all-time high — as Facebook and Netflix both fell more than 1.5 percent. Amazon and Alphabet also contributed to the Nasdaq's losses. Tech's decline Thursday also pushed the S&P 500 down by 0.1 percent to 2,770.37 as a 1.6 percent gain in energy shares was negated.
Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett said he expects the economy to perform strongly for years to come. "Right now, there's no question: It's feeling strong. I mean, if we're in the sixth inning, we have our sluggers coming to bat right now," Buffett told CNBC's Becky Quick in an exclusive interview.
European markets closed lower Thursday, as investors continued to weigh the chance of higher interest rates.The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.24 percent lower with most sectors in negative territory and bourses mixed.
Travel and leisure stocks were the worst performers on Thursday, down 1.7 percent. Catering company Elior Group was the worst sectoral performer, down more than 4 percent.
Looking at corporate headlines, Caixabank rose more than 4 percent on Thursday, after proposing to take its Portuguese bank BPI from a public-held company to being private.
In other corporate news, Bayer closed its $63 billion takeover of U.S. agricultural giant Monsanto after the deal was given antitrust clearance by the Department of Justice. Shares of Bayer were down 0.46 percent.Source: CNBC
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 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. After touching this year’s low of 1.1 % y-o-y in April, inflation is expected to gradually move towards the target, while staying closer to its lower bound by end-2018.
Source: NBS
Serbia 57th of 84 countries by illicit trade index
According to the Global Illicit Trade Environment Index, Serbia is the 57th of 84 countries, the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia (AmCham) announced. The report was published in Brussels by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the world leader in global business surveys, which operates within the Economist Group.
Source: Ekapija
Solution for Swiss franc debtors by October 1?
Citizens with debts in Swiss francs, who protested in front of the Government, are terminating the strike, as they have managed to reach an agreement with representatives of the Supreme Court of Cassation on an urgent solution to all their procedures ongoing at that court. They have been promised, as they say for N1, that their cases will be solved by October 1. We have agreed for all the procedures to be solved as soon as possible and for all the procedures ongoing at the SCC regarding the credits in Swiss francs to be solved by October 1 – said lawyer Jelena Pavlovic.
Source: Ekapija
