SLOVENIA
Slovenia posts trade gap for 2019
Slovenia posted a trade gap of EUR 564 million in 2019 as growth in goods imports outpaced growth in exports. Exports rose by 8.5% to EUR 33.47 billion and imports increased by 10.9% to EUR 34.04 billion. (STA)
Annual inflation rate at 2.1% in January due to costlier food
Consumer prices in Slovenia increased at an annual rate of 2.1% in January, while 0.9% deflation was recorded on the monthly level. The annual inflation was fuelled the most by more expensive food, while winter discount sales of clothing and footwear contributed the most to the monthly deflation. (STA)
Croatian car parts retailer eyeing Slovenia's Bartog
Tokić, a leading Croatian chain selling car parts, would like to take over Slovenia's Bartog, one of the biggest Slovenian companies in this line of business. If the Slovenian Competition Protection Agency approves the deal, this will be Tokić's first takeover outside Croatia. (STA)
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
Dow drops more than 250 points, snaps 4-day winning streak amid coronavirus worries; European stocks close lower
Stocks fell on Friday as worries over the coronavirus’ impact on the Chinese economy outweighed the release of stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 277.26 points lower, or nearly 1%, to 29,102.51. The S&P 500 dipped 0.5% to 3,327.71. The Nasdaq Composite also slid 0.5% to close at 9,520.51. Those losses snapped a four-day winning streak for the major average. Still, stocks notched strong weekly gains despite Friday’s losses.
The spike in confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths came as investors pored through the latest U.S. jobs report. The U.S. economy added 225,000 jobs in January. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a print of 158,000 jobs. Wages rose 3.1% on a year-over-year basis, also topping expectations.
European markets declined Friday as investors monitored the latest coronavirus developments and breaking news on the corporate front. The pan-European Stoxx 600 slipped 0.32% below the flatline by mid-afternoon, with basic resources falling more than 2% to lead losses. Telecoms, banks and utilities bucked the trend to move higher.
Earnings remained in focus as cosmetics giant L’Oreal reported an 11.4% rise in fourth-quarter revenue and beat sales projections despite warning of a slight hit expected due to the coronavirus. The stock pared early gains to trade 1% higher by the close.
Finnish telecoms company Nokia saw its shares jump 7% after U.S. Attorney General William Barr told an audience in Washington on Thursday that the U.S. and its allies should consider buyouts of Nokia and Ericsson, in a bid to counter Chinese giant Huawei’s 5G dominance. Ericsson shares also gained 5.7%.
Source: CNBC
SERBIA
Privatisation of 83 Serbian companies still pending, committee told
Privatisation of 83 Serbian companies is still pending, but public calls to privatise 67 of them cannot be issued, State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy Dragan B Grgurevic on Thursday told the parliamentary committee on the economy, regional development, trade, tourism and energy. He said reorganisation plans were being implemented in another seven companies. He said the government would soon begin a shutdown of the Resavica coal mine under a programme to be published.
Source: Tanjug
2020 to be another record year for Serbian tourism
Serbia ended last year with a record number of tourists and, for the first time, Serbian visitors were outnumbered by foreign ones, Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic said Thursday. Even though the gap in numbers between the two groups is just 3,000, this is something "we could have only dreamed about until two or three years ago and it has never happened before," he told Pink TV. This trend and statistics indicate 2020 will be better than 2019 - which was a record year - particularly due to the introduction of the eTourist electronic system, he said.
Source: Tanjug
Monday's dinar-to-euro rate at RSD 117.5899
The Serbian dinar's official median exchange rate against the euro will be 117.5899 dinars for one euro on Monday, which is a slight change from Friday, the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) has announced. The dinar will remain steady against the euro m-o-m, rising 0.7 pct y-o-y. The dinar's indicative exchange rate against the dollar dropped 0.1 pct to 107.1337 dinars for one dollar on Friday. The dinar dropped 1.2 pct against the dollar m-o-m, declining 2.6 pct y-o-y and 2.1 pct relative to the beginning of the year.
Source: Tanjug
