SERBIA:

Construction of Belgrade subway might start in 2020, routes in New Belgrade as well
The first works on the construction of the Belgrade subway may start as soon as 2020 if all the preparatory works and tendering procedures go according to plan. The City of Belgrade has opened the public procurement procedure for the preparation of the general regulation plan for the rail system with elements of detailed development for the first phase of the subway line. The company that gets the contract will oblige to perform a geodetic survey and prepare a digital topographic plan.
Source: Ekapija

Ban on public sector employment to be abolished from 2020
The ban on employment in the public sector, which has been in effect for six years now, will most probably be abolished in late 2019, Politika writes. The plan is for a new mechanism of employment in the public sector to be implemented from 2020, according to the so-called HR plans, the Belgrade daily learns unofficially.
Source: Ekapija

SORS: Industrial output in 2018, up 1.8% y/y
Serbian industrial output in 2018, was up 1.8%, according to the latest Serbian Statistical Office report. Major boost arrived form processing industry which grew 1.9%, while providing with electricity power, gas and steam was up 1.2%. Contrarian to this, mining sector was down 4.8% y/y.
Source: SORS, Ilirika

REGION:

Regional countries boosted export into KiM territory, after tax charges for Serbian goods
Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of Serbia Rasim Ljajic says that a great economic damage has been done in the two months since the charges of 100% on the export of Serbian goods to Kosovo and Metohija came into effect. Macedonia has increased its exports by 40%, Croatia by 30%, Bulgaria by 50%, Slovenia by 123%, Greece by 114%. Alternative markets simply had to be found and this is why the damage will be much greater than these EUR 66 million. It's hard to return to the market you used to be present in, as other players have penetrated it – Ljajic says.
Source: Ekapija

INO:

S&P 500 rises on strong earnings, closing out the best January since 1987, Europe ends on a muted note amid bank rout, Metro Bank falls 11%
Stocks rose to close out their best January in three decades as strong earnings and a Federal Reserve indicating it will pause rate hikes caused investors to rush back into the market following a vicious December sell-off.
The gain on Thursday was driven by better-than-expected earnings from a range of companies, including Facebook and General Electric. The S&P 500 gained 0.9 percent and the Nasdaq Composite outperformed, rising 1.37 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed just below the flatline.
Shares of Facebook surged 10.8 percent after the company’s quarterly results easily topped expectations. GE shares jumped 11.65 percent on stronger-than-forecast revenue. These results come during the busiest week of the corporate earnings season.
European stocks closed in mixed territory Thursday, amid a rout in bank shares, fresh earnings and lingering fears over economic growth.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed provisionally barely changed, with sectors and major bourses pointing in opposite directions. Banks were by far the worst performing sector, down 2 percent, weighed down by an 11 percent downturn in Metro Bank shares.
The U.K. challenger bank’s share price plummeted following reports that an accounting error it reported last week had initially been discovered by the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority and not by the bank.
Other news weighing on the sector was a report that Deutsche Bank was gearing up for a potential merger with rival Commerzbank by mid-2019 in case its restructuring efforts fall short of targets. Shares of the German lenders fell around 4 percent and 7 percent respectively.
The oil and gas sector led gains on the back of earnings. Shell led the sector in afternoon trade, rising almost 4 percent after reporting that profits soared to a four-year high.
Source: CNBC