SLOVENIA
Slovenia 35th in global competitiveness rankings
Slovenia placed 35th in the latest world economic forum's global competitiveness report with 69.6 points. It ranks just behind portugal and ahead of malta, while the us has claimed the throne of the most competitive among the 140 countries.
Vir: STA
Stock market index drops 0.59%
Reinsurer Sava Re and insurer Zavarovalnica Triglav were the only blue chips on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange to gain ground on Wednesday, with SBI TOP index shedding 0.59% to 813.42 points. Energy company Petrol was the loser of the day, dropping 1.52% to EUR 325. Brokers wrapped up a total of EUR 1.15m in volumes.
Vir: STA
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
Dow falls in volatile session after Fed hints at more rate hikes ahead; European stocks close lower Wednesday, auto sales and gloomy forecast weigh
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell Wednesday in volatile trading after a summary of the Federal Reserve's most-recent meeting showed the central bank was leaning toward more rate hikes moving forward. The 30-stock index dropped 89 points as sharp losses in IBM offset strong gains in Goldman Sachs. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed just below the flatline. Weaker-than-expected report from IBM sent the stock down more than 6 percent and reignited worries about earnings moving forward. On the data front, housing starts fell 5.3 percent last month, more than expected. European stocks turned lower in early afternoon trading, dragged down by auto stocks. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed provisionally lower by 0.44 percent with investors tracking corporate earnings. Auto stocks fell 1.88 percent, with Peugeot down by 4.9 percent and Renault off by 3.57 percent. This was after news that European car sales dropped 23.4 percent in the month of September. Volkswagen, Fiat and Renault led the slump, Reuters reported. Shares in Germany's Fresenius Medical Care slumped 16.31 percent after the medical group cut its 2018 sales and income outlook due to the under-performance of its U.S. business.
Source: CNBC
SERBIA
JMBN: Government to sell its shares in Jubmes banka soon
The Minister of Finance, Sinisa Mali said that he expected for Serbia to sell its shares in Jubmes banka by the end of the year. Mali also said that they formed a working group for analyzing the strategy for Srpska banka and reminded that they had already published a public call for financial advisor for selling shares in Komercijalna banka. Serbian government owns 20,2% of Jubmes banka shares and 76,69% of Srpska banka shares while the other 23,31% of shares are owned by Yugoimport SDRP, also a state-owned company. Regarding Komercijalna banka, the state owns 41,7% of its shares.
EUR 3bn to be invested in gas pipeline infrastructure in next five years
Around EUR 3bn shall be invested in natural gas pipeline infrastructure in Serbia in the next five years, said Dusan Bajatovic, the general manager of Srbijagas. We are working on two major gas pipeline infrastructure projects in accordance with European energy standards. The first one is the 109 km long Nis - Dimitrovgrad - Sofia interconnector which would connect Serbia to Bulgarian gas pipeline. The second one is a gas main from the Bulgarian border to Hungarian border, Bajatovic told Vecernje Novost daily. The interconnection is in the process of expropriation and engineering design. Europe has already invested EUR 49 million and the remainder of EUR 85,5 million will be the responsibility of Serbia, maybe we even get the help from the Government, said Bajatovic.
Source: Ekapija
MTLC: Metalac to buy back own shares
Super Visionary Board at Metalac (MTLC) made a decision on own shares buyback. The company will buy back up to 5% of own shares, quoted at BSE. The price will depend on market conditions and will be determined later. The board assumes that current stock price does not represent the real value of the company nor its performances or growth potential.
Source: Belex, Ilirika
