SLOVENIA
Companies feel pandemic much more unequally than 2009 crisis
Ljubljana, 27 July - The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted Slovenian companies much more unequally than the latest recession in 2009. While 58% of companies have had negative effects, 17% of them had positive effects, according to a survey carried out by the Slovenian Marketing Association and the pollster Valicon. (STA)
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
Stocks rise to start the week as Amazon and Apple lead tech higher, gold hits record; European stocks close lower with U.S.-China tensions, coronavirus in focus; travel stocks down 3.3%; BELEX15 ends Monday flat; NBS extends moratorium on debt repayment
U.S. stocks rose on Monday with the major tech names outperforming as investors braced for a big week of corporate earnings and lawmakers continued coronavirus stimulus negotiations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 114.88 points, or 0.4%, to close at 26,584.77. The S&P 500 closed 0.7% higher at 3,239.41 and the Nasdaq Composite outperformed, climbing 1.7% to 10,536.27.
Apple climbed 2.3%. Amazon advanced 1.5% after several analysts raised their price targets on the e-commerce giant. Other tech-related stocks, including Facebook, Netflix and Alphabet, also traded higher.
Market sentiment was also boosted after the U.S. government allocated an additional $472 million towards Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine research. The stock jumped 9.2%.
European markets closed slightly lower on Monday as investors monitored rising diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and China, while travel stocks tumbled after the U.K. imposed quarantine measures on people returning from Spain.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended down around 0.3%, with travel and leisure stocks tumbling more than 3.3% to lead losses while basic resources climbed 1.3%.
Airline stocks tumbled across the board on Monday after the U.K. quarantine decision, with easyjet and British Airways parent IAG both falling around 8%, respectively, while Lufthansa shed 5%. Cruise operator Carnival also dropped more than 8%.
BELEX15 was almost with no change. It lost only minor 0.06%. The most active was Komercijana Banka, with RSD 7m in volume, but with no material stock price change. Tehnogas generated RSD 2.5m, while the stock was down 0.6%.
The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) introduced regulations on Monday to allow debtors further delays in repayment on loans and leasing arrangements. The NBS Executive Board said the decision to allow debtors to postpone repayments to help ease the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and keep the financial system stable. (CNBC, ILIRIKA)
