SLOVENIA
July wage figures mostly on par with June's
The average net pay in Slovenia in July stood at EUR 1,176, which was 0.1% up on June nominally and 0.2% more in real terms, the Statistics Office reported on Tuesday, noting that the figures stayed mostly level since measures mitigating Covid-19 ramifications were effective in both months. (STA)
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
Dow jumps 400 points as Apple leads tech rebound; European markets close higher after a choppy trading session; BELEX15 remains flat; NBS FX reserves amounted to 13.4bn
Stocks rose on Monday as a slew of corporate dealmaking activity and optimism toward a coronavirus vaccine sparked a broad market rally. The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded about 400 points higher, or 1.4%. The S&P 500 climbed 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.2%. The tech-heavy benchmark was coming off its worst week since March. Shares of Apple were higher by 3.4%. The market has been following in the footsteps of its rally leader. Apple shares are down 11.9% this month.
Tech sentiment was lifted by news of Nvidia buying chipmaker Arm Holdings from SoftBank for $40 billion. Nvidia will finance the deal through a combination of cash and common stock. Nvidia was up 5%. Other chipmakers also gained, including AMD, Micron and Skyworks.
Sentiment was also boosted by signs of progress toward a coronavirus vaccine. AstraZeneca resumed phase three trials for its coronavirus vaccine in the U.K. following a halt due to safety concerns. However, its trials in the U.S. remains on hold as American regulators investigate the side effects flagged in the U.K. study, Reuters reported Monday.
Meanwhile, Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla said on Sunday that a coronavirus vaccine could be distributed in the U.S. before the year-end.
European stocks ended the day in the green on Monday, after a mixed session that came on the back of a resumption of coronavirus vaccine trials. The pan-European Stoxx 600 provisionally ended up 0.2% after a day of choppy trading. Travel and leisure stocks gained over 2%, while oil and gas fell around 1.2%.
On the data front, euro zone industrial production grew by 4.1% month-on-month in July, showing a slowing down of the bloc’s expected rebound in industrial output.
In terms of individual share price action, security contractor G4S surged more than 24% in afternoon trade after the company received a £2.95 billion ($3.8 billion) takeover offer from Canada’s Garda World Security. Dassault Aviation shares jumped 9% after the Greek Air Force announced an order for 18 of its Rafale fighter jets.
BELEX15 once again was with no material change. There were no price movements at active names. Komercijana Banka was the most traded with RSD 5.8m in volume, while NIS generated RSD 1m in volume.
Gross NBS FX reserves amounted to EUR 13.4bn at end-August, covering 141% of money supply M1 and six months’ worth of the country’s imports of goods and services, twice more than the standard on the adequate level of coverage of the imports of goods and services by FX reserves. (CNBC, ILIRIKA)
