INO:
Dow rises more than 150 points to record as investors dump bonds and buy stocks on trade optimism; European stocks close higher on China-US trade optimism
Stocks rose to record highs on Thursday after the world’s two largest economies reportedly agreed to remove existing trade tariffs, sparking a huge rotation into equities and out of bonds.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 186 points, or 0.7% as trade bellwethers Caterpillar and Boeing were both up at least 1%. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% as the financials sector gained 0.7%. Energy stocks also advanced 1.6%. The Nasdaq Composite, meanwhile, hit an intraday record of 8,483.16 before closing 0.3% higher.
Qualcomm shares jumped more than 6% after reporting Wednesday quarterly results that topped analyst expectations. The company’s results were driven by strength in Qualcomm’s licensing business.
European shares traded higher Thursday, having touched a four-year high early in the session after China said the world’s two largest economies had agreed to cancel additional tariffs imposed in their months-long trade war.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed provisionally up 0.29%, slightly paring earlier gains which saw the European blue-chip index hit its highest point since July 2015. Auto stocks jumped 1.7% to lead gains while utilities slid 1.9%.
Siemens on Thursday reported fourth-quarter revenue of 24.5 billion euros, an 8% year-on-year increase, while German lender Commerzbank announced a 35% increase in net profit for the third quarter. Siemens shares rose nearly 5% while Commerzbank slipped 0.16% lower.
Italy’s UniCredit climbed almost 6% after backing its full-year guidance, reporting a net profit of 1.1 billion euros for the third quarter, and Lufthansa backed its full-year outlook after the airline’s third-quarter profit rose 4% to 1.15 billion euros.
Shares of Arcelormittal climbed 6.7% after the world’s largest steelmaker reporting a second consecutive quarterly loss before the bell, but topped earnings expectations.
Dialog Semiconductor stock made a 7.4% surge after Barclays raised its target price.
Source: CNBC
SERBIA:
EBRD projects slowing down of growth in Western Balkans
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) projects a slowing down of the economic growth in the Western Balkans, Serbia included, this and next year. In its latest “Regional Economic Prospects in the EBRD Regions”, published this November on the bank's website, the EBRD estimates that Serbia's GDP will grow by 3.2% this year and 3.5% in 2020. The previous report, published in May, projected 3.5% in 2019 and 3.8% in 2020. Domestic demand, according to the EBRD, should remain the main growth driver, while net exports are most likely to continue their negative contribution.
Source: Ekapija
2020 budget bill development-minded, optimal – economists
Serbia's 2020 budget bill is optimal and balanced and will help to achieve the growth rate planned for next year, economic experts say. The bill, which entered parliamentary procedure earlier this week, projects a 4 pct growth rate. Zoran Grubisic, a professor at the Belgrade Banking Academy, said the bill was a good balance between stabilisation goals rounding out a period of a public debt reduction and development goals. "We have a balanced budget, the budget deficit is at a minimal level of 0.3 pct of GDP, which is a further tendency of budgetary balancing and, on that basis, a reduction of public debt, which is now projected at 50 pct of GDP. That completes a stabilisation strategy and the budget is now really also development-minded to some extent," Grubisic told Tanjug.
Source: Tanjug
NBS cuts key policy rate to 2.25%
The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) Executive Board on Thursday decided to cut the key policy rate from 2.5 pct to 2.25 pct. This is the rate's "new lowest level in the inflation targeting regime, whereby the NBS lends further support to credit and economic growth," the central bank said in a statement.
Source: Tanjug