INO:

Stocks touch record highs before giving up most of those gains into the close; European stocks close mixed ahead of US-China trade deal signing

Stocks rose on Wednesday, but gave up most of their gains heading into the close even after the U.S. and China signed a highly anticipated phase one trade agreement as most of the details were already known and investors anticipated some speed bumps on the way to phase two’s signing.
The Nasdaq Composite closed just above the flatline. The S&P 500 ended the day up 0.2% while the the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 91 points, or 0.3%. At its session high, the Dow was up 187.92 points, or 0.7% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained as much as 0.5% each. The U.S.-China trade agreement includes provisions to curb intellectual property theft along with forced technology transfers. It also increases Chinese purchases of U.S. products.
Goldman Sachs posted a revenue for the quarter that surpassed estimates. BlackRock, UnitedHealth and PNC Financial also posted quarterly earnings that beat analyst expectations.
In other corporate news, Target shares dropped more than 7% after the retailer announced disappointing holiday same-store sales. Target said its same-store sales during the holidays rose just 1.4%, compared to growth of 5.7% from the prior year.
European stocks closed mixed on Wednesday as investors awaited the signing of the so-called “phase one” trade deal between the U.S. and China, with optimism slightly dented by comments from the U.S. Treasury. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed provisionally barely moved, with autos falling 1.7% to lead losses while utilities stocks bucked the trend to gain 1.3%.
ASMI shares jumped almost 9% after the Dutch semiconductor company reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter sales and orders.
Source: CNBC

SERBIA:

Serbian fuel prices see no major changes

With the exception of the usual market fluctuations, Serbian fuel prices saw no major changes as a result of US-Iran tensions, according to the Association of Oil Companies of Serbia. The diesel price rose by around one dinar per litre while the LPG price increased by around three dinars per litre, but nothing particular has happened on the global oil market, and these are standard market fluctuations based on supply and demand, said the Association's Secretary-General Tomislav Micovic. An approx. 3.5 pct global oil price rise on the day following an Iranian attack on US military bases in Iraq is something that might be attributed to the political tensions, he told Tanjug. However, the oil price fell 3.5 pct on December 30, but no one attributed that to anything but market trends, he recalled.
Source: Tanjug

IMF asks for ending the practice of appointing acting directors

The International Monetary Fund has given a recommendation to the Serbian government to end the custom of appointing acting directors in state-owned enterprises. Otherwise, they can't expect to completely reform these companies, which also includes professional management, Blic daily quoted the source from the government. What that means is that IMF asked that the government end all contest for professional managements by the end of the year, thus ending the age of acting directors too. The source for Blic claims that the IMF representatives advised that the Law on Public Enterprises must be adhered to properly. The Law proposes that acting directors in state-owned enterprises can remain in the position up to a year, maximum.
Source: Ekapija

EUR/RSD rate at 117.56

Dinar rate will be slightly changed vs. EUR today, at 117.56, NBS reported. This is the same level as it was a month ago but 0.7% depreciation on an annual basis. According to the report, NBS bought 3.1bn EUR in 2019, with EUR 405m sold in order to prevent higher volatility in RSD/EUR rate.
Source: Beta, Ilirika