SERBIA:

NBS: Household dinar savings tripled over the past six years.
Based on the latest available data, the volume of dinar savings held with Serbian banks shot past RSD 57 bn in October 2018, NBS said. In 2018 alone, they increased by over 14%, driven mainly by the 6m-1y term deposits. Household savings in foreign currency are also increasing every year. According to the latest available data they amount to around EUR 9.8 bn, up by EUR 0.4 bn relative to end-2017.
Source: NBS

EUR 24mn-worth road deal signed with Turks
A commercial contract to reconstruct the Novi Pazar-Tutin road in southwestern Serbia has been signed on Monday. The document was inked by Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic and representatives of the Turkish company Tasyapi. Mihajlovic pointed out that the contract signed involves the creation of a preliminary project, the drafting of a detailed regulation plan and the execution of works, in the length of 20.5 kilometers.
Source: Tanjug

Direktna Banka completed acquisition of Piraeus Bank – Bank also to operate in Cacak, Valjevo, Vrsac
Direktna Banka Kragujevac announced today that it had successfully finalized the acquisition of Piraeus Bank Belgrade, whereby it has expanded its operations and strengthened its position in the banking market. Earlier in 2017, Pireus said that it agreed to sell its Serbian unit for EUR 58-61m.
Source: Ekapija, Ilirika

REGION:

Atlantic and Adris Group announce new acquisitions
Somewhat obscured by the publication of business results which started last week, two important announcements were made in the Croatian business sector. Two big players in the Croatian market, Adris Group and Atlantic Group, have announced acquisitions. Atlantic Group says that they are looking into several companies, but that a strategic decision has not yet been made. They also announce that it will certainly be a large, transformational acquisition, and it is realistic to expect for it to take place in 2019. After realizing very good results in the first nine months of 2018, Adris Group reveals that it is planning to expand. They plan investments of HRK 4 billion in the next four years, especially in their tourism business, in which HRK 3.3 billion is to be put. Following that cycle, as much as 95% of their hotel capacities will be at the top level. Nearly HRK 360 million is to be invested in the production of health food and HRK 230 million will be invested in insurance development.
Source: Ekapija

INO:

Dow tumbles more than 200 points in wild session, S&P 500 closes in correction territory, Europe shares close sharply higher, autos surge on reports of China tax cut, HSBC up 5%
Stocks closed lower on Monday, giving up sharp gains from earlier in the day in a wild session that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average travel more than 900 points. Traders blamed the possibility of more U.S.-China tariffs coupled with a drop in tech shares for the decline. Nasdaq Composite fell 1.6 percent to 7,050.29 as shares of Amazon got pounded. The S&P 500 closed 0.7 percent lower at 2,641.25 after gaining more than 1 percent earlier in the day.
Bloomberg News reported that the U.S. is planning on slapping tariffs on more Chinese products if upcoming talks between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping falter. Both countries have already implemented levies on billions of dollars worth of each other's goods.
U.S. stocks got a boost earlier on Monday after IBM agreed to buy Red Hat, an open-source software distributor, for around $34 billion. Red Hat shares surged 45.4 percent on the deal, while IBM's stock fell more than 4 percent.
Stocks in Europe closed sharply higher Monday as investors reacted to news that China will announce a 50 percent cut in car purchase taxes and German Chancellor Angela Merkel plans to step down as party chairman. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 1 percent higher provisionally, with the majority of the sectors trading well above the flatine.
Auto stocks pushed higher, up by more than 3 percent. Volkswagen rose 4.5 percent and Daimler jumped 1.7 percent following a report from Bloomberg that China will halve its car purchase tax.
Banks were also among the top performers on the back of strong earnings. HSBC rose 5 percent after reporting a 28 percent increase in pre-tax profit in the third quarter of the year from a year ago. Banco Bpm also rose 5 percent on Monday after S&P Global kept Italy's investment grade though it changed the outlook for negative.
Source: CNBC