SLOVENIA
Fiscal Council reserved about supplementary budget
The Fiscal Council has expressed reservations about the proposed supplementary budget for this year and the revised budget framework for 2020-2022. Even though Slovenia is allowed to deviate from mid-term budgetary objectives, it says some expenditure is either not sufficiently transparent or projected to grow at an excessive pace. (STA)
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
Dow drops 700 points to end the week as coronavirus spike raises concern over the economy; European markets close lower amid coronavirus fears; Wirecard down 63%; BELEX15 down 0.79% as Energoprojekt lost over 10%
Stocks fell sharply on Friday after Texas rolled back some of its reopening measures, raising concern about the latest spike in coronavirus cases and its impact on the economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 730.05 points lower, or 2.8%, at 25,015.55. The S&P 500 slid 2.4% to 3,009.05 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.6% to close at 9,757.22.
The Federal Reserve’s annual stress test of the major banks showed some banks could get close to minimum capital levels in scenarios related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Because of this, banks must suspend share repurchase programs and cap dividend payments at current levels for the third quarter. Wells Fargo and Capital One may be forced to cut their dividends, according to a Morgan Stanley analyst.
Meanwhile, Nike shares slid 7.6% on the back of a surprising quarterly loss for the apparel giant. The company reported a loss of 51 cents per share and revenue of $6.31 billion for its fiscal fourth quarter. Nike’s quarterly revenue reflected a drop of 38% on a year-over-year basis.
European markets closed lower on Friday, amid concern over surging coronavirus cases in the U.S. major bourses in negative territory. Markets had advanced as much as 1.1% earlier in the session.
Wirecard filed for insolvency on Thursday, unable to account for a $2.1 billion black hole in its balance sheet and owing $4 billion to creditors. Shares of the German payment company tumbled another 64% Friday to trade at just 1.28 euros per share.
Lufthansa shareholders on Thursday backed a $10 billion German government bailout package to rescue the embattled carrier after major shareholder Heinz Hermann Thiele dropped his opposition to the plan. The airline group’s stock price slumped over 6%.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported Thursday night that the Dutch government has agreed a 3.4 billion euro rescue deal with France for Air France-KLM, as airlines continue to reel from months of worldwide travel restrictions. Shares of the company fell slightly following the news.
BELEX15 was down 0.79% as Energoprojekt lost slightly higher than 10%. The most traded name was Komercijana Banka as it generated RSD 4.2m. All other names were far less active. We saw no special corporate events.
Due to the increased unemployment rate caused by the coronavirus crisis, the ruling CDU/CSU parliamentary group in Germany is looking to reduce the future labour immigration based on the decision on easier access to employment for Western Balkans citizens from 2016. The regulations for Western Balkans workers were adopted five years ago after the German government put Western Balkans countries on the “safe country of origin” list in order to reduce the mass influx of asylum seekers. (CNBC, ILIRIKA)
