SLOVENIA
Minister: Final proposal on NLB commitments could be ready next week
The Finance Ministry could have the final proposal with regards to changed commitments on the NLB bank ready for government approval next week, Finance Minister Mateja Vraničar Erman said on Tuesday. The proposal will deal with both sales commitments and compensatory measures.
Source: STA
Helios sales revenue up 6% to EUR 390m in 2017
Coatings group Helios said it generated EUR 390m in sales revenue in 2017, a 6% increase on the year before. The profit figures were not disclosed by the company, which had a net profit of EUR 58m in 2016.
Source: STA
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
Dow drops more than 300 points as investors brace for further Trump trade actions against China; European markets close sharply lower on trade concerns
Stocks kicked off the week trading lower on Monday as Wall Street braced for more actions against Chinese companies by the Trump administration. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 326 points, with Boeing and Intel among the biggest decliners in the index. The S&P 500 fell 1.4 percent as tech declined 2.3 percent. The Nasdaq composite pulled back 2.1 percent as Netflix dropped 6.5 percent to lead the FANGs lower.
Harley-Davidson shares fell about 6 percent after the company announced it will shift production of motorcycles headed for Europe to factories outside the U.S. The company sold nearly 40,000 bikes to the European Union, second only to the U.S.
Shares of chipmakers Intel, Micron Technology and Nvidia all fell at least 3.4 percent. Boeing, Caterpillar and General Motors — all companies with significant exposure to China and major exporters — also fell by 2.3 percent, 2.4 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.
European equities closed significantly lower Monday as investors worried about further tariffs in global trade and the effect of Brexit. By the end of trade Monday, the pan-European Stoxx 600 was provisionally 2.02 percent lower for the session with every sector in the red.
Autos were among the worst performing sectors, down by 2.34 percent, as a result of the rising tensions in trade. On Friday, President Donald Trump threatened to apply new duties on European carmakers. The European Union has said that it would respond with further U.S. tariffs if Trump fulfilled his threat.
Another stark Brexit warning to the U.K. government arrived from big business. Just days after Airbus announced it could reduce British operations, the German automaker BMW said Brexit could force U.K. plant closures. BMW employs around 7,000 people in the U.K.
Source: CNBC
SERBIA
Monthly average net wage in April was EUR 416
The average gross monthly wage in Serbia in April amounted to RSD 67,901, while the average net wage was RSD 49,117 (equivalent to EUR 416). Compared with the previous month, the average gross wage increased by 6.2 percent in nominal terms and by 5 percent in real terms, the Statistical Office of Serbia (RZZS) has announced.
Source: b92
EIB is Serbia's major partner, says PM
Prime Minister Ana Brnabic has called the European Investment Bank (EIB) "Serbia's most important partner in reform and modernization." The EIB is most proactive in the joint project of the clinical center in Nis, Brnabic said at a reception in Belgrade on Friday, organized to mark the 60th anniversary of this financial institution. Brnabic said that the government of Serbia with the bank currently has projects worth one billion euros, the government announced on its website.
Source: b92
Quarterly monitor: Economic growth is not that impressive as it seems
Low inflation, fiscal surplus and interest rates at the historical minimum and are all undoubtedly good trends that Serbia has not had for many years, which also contribute to maintaining the macroeconomic stability, Professor Milojko Arsic said at the presentation of the Faculty of Economics’ publication, the Quarterly Monitor. However, when we scratch the surface, it turns out that the biggest part of the economy grew at a rate of 3 to 3.5 percent, which is below the CEE average. Namely, the high growth is a one-off occurrence and is the result of the recovery of several sectors that recorded unfavourable results in the first quarter of this year, such as agriculture, electricity and construction. The authors of the Quarterly Monitor say that the final growth estimate is up to 4 percent by the end of the year, which again is below the CEE average.
Source: Serbiamonitor
