SERBIA:

Chinese company to take over RTB Bor
Chinese Zijin Mining Group submitted a business plan offering $1.46 billion for 63% of ownership of RTB Bor. The Minister of Energy and Mining Aleksandar Antic explained that the Chinese company submitted the best binding bid in the amount of $1 billion and 260 million out of which $350 million would go to mandatory monetary capital increase. The company's obligations also include keeping all 5,000 workers and providing additional $200 million for previous debts.
Source: b92

NBS: Serbian GDP grew 4.8% in 2Q
According to Statistical Office data, real y-o-y GDP growth measured 4.8% in Q2 2018, exceeding the preliminary estimate of 4.4%. Q2 saw real y-o-y GDP growth of 4.9%. Since the start of the year, GDP growth has been led by manufacturing, mainly private sector services, construction and agriculture. In terms of sources of growth, the key contribution came from investment, exports and household consumption.
Source: NBS

NBS, SORS: Industrial output in July up 1.7% y/y, Retail trade turnover in July up 3.2%, Unemployment rate in 2Q at 11.9%
In July, industrial production rose by 1.7% y-o-y. In terms of structure, growth was led by manufacturing (3.4%), with over two thirds of sectors recording a rise. In the January–July period, industrial production picked up 3.7% y-o-y, with its manufacturing sector gaining 3.4%. The sector of electricity, gas and steam supply also expanded. In July, retail trade was up by 3.2% in real, y-o-y terms. In the January–July period, y-o-y real growth in retail trade was 3.4%. From January to July, commodity exports rose by 8.5% y-o-y. Imports were up by 12.7%, reflecting rising imports of equipment and intermediate goods. Under the Labour Force Survey, the unemployment rate stood at 11.9% in Q2, down by 2.9 pp from Q1. The employment rate increased from Q1 to 48.6%.
Source: NBS

REGION:

Slovenian GDP grew 3.8% y/y
Slovenia's gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to 3.8% year-on-year in the second quarter from 4.5% in the preceding three-month period, according to non-seasonally adjusted statistical data released on Friday. On a seasonally adjusted basis, second-quarter GDP increased by 0.8% over the previous quarter and was 4.3% higher year-on-year, data of Slovenia's Statistical Office indicated.
Source: SeeNews

INO:

Europe ends deep in the red amid renewed global trade war concerns
U.S. stocks dropped Friday as the United States and Canada put off resolving their trade dispute. Several indexes closed with historic highs for the month of August, as both the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 notched all-time highs this week. The Dow Jones Industrial average closed down 22 points, with losses in Boeing and Goldman Sachs offsetting gains in Apple and Nike. The S&P 500 rose 0.01 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded up 0.26 percent.
Consumer sentiment in the United States rose slightly in August, beating economist expectations for a slight decline. The University of Michigan's monthly survey of consumers hit 96.2 in the final reading of August, better than the drop to 95.5 expected by economists polled by Reuters.
Shares of Coca-Cola fell nearly 1 percent Friday after the company said it agreed to buy coffee chain Costa for $5.1 billion including debt to further its venture into healthier drink options. The move, which pits Coca-Cola against established coffee options at Starbucks and Nestle, will add Costa's almost 4,000 outlets to the world's largest soda company.
European stocks slumped by Friday's close, amid heightened fears surrounding the state of trade between the U.S. and other major economies. The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 0.8 percent by the provisional close. On the week, however, the pan-European index closed down just 0.34 percent.
Automakers were Europe's worst performers Friday, with the sector tumbling 1.55 percent after President Donald Trump reportedly said the European Union's proposal to eliminate auto tariffs was "not good enough." The U.S. president also told Bloomberg on Thursday that the bloc's trading policies were "almost as bad as China." Michelin, Continental and Pirelli all fell 1.9 percent or more by the close.
Source: CNBC