SLOVENIA

Govt to discuss potential strategies in wake of Adria receivership

The government is to debate possible strategies after Slovenian carrier Adria Airways went into receivership, meaning it will discuss whether to set up a new flag carrier or subsidise certain routes. An amendment to the aviation act which would enable such subsidising has already been drawn up. (STA)

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

Stocks on tenterhooks as U.S. recession signs build

A wake-up call from the U.S. heartland has spooked Wall Street by raising fears of a recession that will push equities into a correction. After Tuesday’s dire picture on manufacturing from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), which rattled the market, investors await Thursday’s ISM services report and Friday’s employment report to confirm or quash recession worries. They will also be looking for evidence on the strength of the consumer, which has been a cornerstone of the current economic expansion. The ISM came in at 47.8 on Tuesday, its lowest level in over 10-years as trade tensions weighed on exports. That tipped the Dow .DJI and S&P 500 .SPX into their biggest one-day percentage declines since Aug. 23. The S&P 500 is now down 4.6% from its record July 26 closing high. (Reuters)

UK government bonds rally and stocks slip further following global sell-off

London’s FTSE 100 fell further and government bonds rallied after a stock market rout spread into Asia on renewed fears over the state of the global economy. The FTSE 100 was 0.3 per cent lower in morning trading on Thursday, after suffering its largest one day fall since January 2016 in the previous session. The continent-wide Stoxx Europe 600 edged lower and was on track for losses of nearly 4 per cent for the week. Investors moved into the relative safety of government bonds as risk assets suffered, sending the yield on 10-year German Bunds three basis points lower to minus 0.544 per cent. US benchmark 10-year Treasury yields fell to their lowest levels in around three weeks, as investors line up bets that the Federal Reserve will cut rates again at the end of this month. Three-quarters of economists polled by Bloomberg now think the Fed will reduce the policy rate by 25 basis points in October. (FT)

U.S. widens trade war with tariffs on European planes, cheese, whisky to punish subsidies

 The United States on Wednesday said it would slap 10% tariffs on European-made Airbus (AIR.PA) planes and 25% duties on French wine, Scotch and Irish whiskies, and cheese from across the continent as punishment for illegal EU aircraft subsidies. The announcement came after the World Trade Organization gave Washington a green light to impose tariffs on $7.5 billion worth of EU goods annually in the long-running case, a move that threatens to ignite a tit-for-tat transatlantic trade war.
The measures would follow tariffs levied by the United States and China on hundreds of billions of dollars of each other’s goods in their more than year-old trade war. The U.S. trade representative’s target list for EU tariffs, set to take effect on Oct. 18, includes large Airbus planes made in France, Britain, Germany and Spain - the four Airbus consortium countries. But no tariffs will be imposed on EU-made aircraft parts used in Airbus’ Alabama assembly operations or those used by rival U.S. planemaker Boeing Co (BA.N), safeguarding U.S. manufacturing jobs. (Reuters)

Asian stocks slide as U.S. tariffs on EU fan growth worries

Asian stocks tumbled to a one-month low on Thursday as already-growing market fears about global growth were fanned by the United State announcement of new import tariffs on products from the European Union. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS dropped 0.60%. Japan's Nikkei stock index .N225 closed down 2.00%, the biggest one-day decline since Aug. 26. Australian shares slumped 2.07% to a five-week low.
The pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures were down 0.38%, while FTSE futures were off 0.34%.
U.S. stock futures were up 0.22%, but this did little to bolster sentiment after shares on Wall Street suffered their sharpest one-day decline in nearly six weeks on Wednesday, when the three major New York share indexes all lost more than 1.5%. (Reuters)

SERBIA

Serbian GDP in 2018 at 47 bln dollars, 6.6 pct up in nominal terms

Serbia's 2018 GDP stood at 5,068 bln dinars (around 47.04 bln dollars) at current prices and was 6.6 pct up in nominal terms compared to the year before. According to a statement released by the national statistical office RZS, Serbia's GDP grew 4.4 pct in real terms last year. "Observed by activities, in 2018 the major share in the GDP creation was noted for the section of manufacturing - 14.5 pct, the section of wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles - 11.5 pct, the section of real estate activities - 7.0 pct, the section of agriculture, forestry and fishing - 6.3 pct and the section of information and communication - 4.8 pct. (Tanjug)

Budget surplus to go to wage increases, capital investment

Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali on Wednesday noted that a review of the 2019 budget was due to a 46.6 bln dinar surplus, which he said would go to public sector wage increases, a one-off financial assistance to pensioners, assistance to citizens with Swiss franc-denominated debts, as well as to capital investment. He explained public sector wages would be 8-15 pct higher from November 1, rising by an average 9.6 pct. (Tanjug)

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