SERBIA:

Protocol on reconstruction of Belgrade-Zagreb railway to be signed on March 5
Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic announced that Croatian Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure Oleg Butkovic would arrive to Belgrade on March 5 as part of a bilateral visit to Serbia, on which date the protocol of cooperation on the project of reconstruction of the Belgrade-Zagreb railway is to be signed as well. Following the signing of the protocol, the first next step is to prepare for a joint application with the European Union for securing finances, primarily for the preparation of project-technical documentation and then for the works themselves – Mihajlovic said.
Source: Ekapija

Around EUR 53.5m for overhaul of TENT A4 unit – Works to begin in March 2018
The overhaul of the unit A4 at the Thermal Power Plant Nikola Tesla A (TENT A) will begin in March, it was announced at the meeting between representatives of Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) with the contractors on February 20. This is one of the most important investments within the EPS system this year, as the investment of around EUR 53.5 million will increase the power of the unit to 332 MW, extend its life cycle and upgrade energy efficiency and environmental protection, EPS announced. The work schedule was agreed at the meeting and the works should start in March. The last overhaul of A4 was performed in 2007. It provided the unit with another 11 years of stable operations.
Source: Ekapija

AERO: IndiGo sees potential in flights between India and Serbia – Company planning to expand to European market
The biggest Indian airline IndiGo sees potential in the Serbian market in the near future, the company said after announcing their plans for expansion in Europe. As the company told EX-YU Aviation News, IndiGo has already had talks with the Serbian government. We plan to continue these talks and explore opportunities to serve the market sometime in the future, in order to offer affordable and unmatched travel experience to passengers between India and Serbia.
Source: Ekapija

REGION:

SBITOP index lost -0.37 percent
SBITOP index lost 3 points on Wednesday trading day reaching at 815.86 points. Stock of Gorenye experiacend agin a price gain (+2.91%) at very low levels of trade (8,64 thusand EUR). Noticable movements of stocks that trade in volumes above 50 thousand EUR level are Krka (-1.38%), Petrol (-0.29%) and Zavarovalnica Triglav (-0.24%).
Source: Ilirika

Slovenia Producer Price Inflation Steady at 2.2% in January
Slovenia annual producer price inflation was steady at 2.2 percent in January of 2018. Prices rose at the same pace as in December for manufacturing (2.5 percent) and advanced at a faster pace for mining and quarrying (2.0 percent vs 1.3 percent). On the other hand, prices declined for water supply (-5.9 percent, the same as in December 2017) and for electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (-3.4 percent vs -3.7 percent). On a monthly basis, producer prices went up 0.6 percent.
Source: TE, Ilirika

Slovenia Jobless Rate Declines to 9% in December
The unemployment rate in Slovenia was down to 9 percent in December of 2017 from 10.8 percent a year earlier. The number of unemployed persons decreased by 17 thousand to 82,379 and employment rose by 31.7 thousand to 856,201. In December, 8,225 persons were officially registered as newly unemployed, 8.8 percent less than in the same month a year ago. Among the newly registered, 5,341 were unemployed due to expiration of the fixed-term employment, 671 were seeking for a first job and 1,274 were jobless due to permanent redundancies and bankruptcies. In November of 2017, the jobless rate was slightly lower at 8.7 percent.
Source: TE, Ilirika

INO:

Dow closes more than 150 points lower after 10-year yield hits 4-year high on Fed minutes, European stocks swing to close higher, Glencore rises 5.7%
Stocks closed lower on Wednesday, erasing sharp gains, after interest rates reached fresh multiyear highs following the release of the latest Federal Reserve minutes. The Dow Jones industrial average closed 167 points lower after rising 303.24 points. The S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent, with real estate sliding nearly 2 percent. The Nasdaq composite closed 0.2 percent lower. The minutes from the Fed's January meeting showed officials see increased economic growth and an uptick in inflation as justification to continue to raise interest rates gradually.
In corporate news, Advance Auto Parts was the best-performing stock in the S&P 500, rising more than 8 percent after reporting better-than-expected earnings. The company said it is pleased with its performance given what it calls a difficult sales environment.
European equities closed higher Wednesday afternoon as investors focused on further earnings reports and data releases. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.16 percent higher, although business sectors and major bourses were pointing in different directions. The close demonstrated a swing to the upside, given that markets were trading mostly negatively earlier in the afternoon.
Basic resources rallied to close 1.6 percent higher, making it the best performing sector. Miner Glencore topped the European benchmark after saying its 2017 full-year results were the best ever on record with an overall adjusted profit of $14.76 billion, Reuters reported. The stock closed 5.2 percent higher.
Financial services and travel also did well, closing up 0.94 and 0.92 percent respectively. In the former sector, Deutsche Boerse finished up 2.9 percent. At a press conference, the German stock exchange operator's new CEO said that his company was targeting a quarter of the euro clearing market from London as Brexit gets underway, Reuters reported.
Metro Bank struggled to convince investors on Wednesday despite announcing higher targets for 2020 and 12 new branches by the end of the year. The stock closed 2.9 percent lower, although this was an improvement on trading earlier in the day. Lloyds Bank reported its highest pre-tax profit in more than 10 years and announced a share buyback of up to £1 billion ($1.40 billion). The stock ended trading 2.7 percent to the upside.
In December 2017 compared with November 2017, seasonally adjusted production in the construction sector increased by 0.1% in the euro area (EA19) and by 0.6% in the EU28, according to first estimates from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The IHS Markit Germany Manufacturing PMI fell to 60.3 in February of 2018 from 61.1 in January and slightly below market expectations of 60.6. The reading pointed to the slowest expansion in the manufacturing sector sector in six months, preliminary estimates showed. On the other side, The IHS Markit US Manufacturing PMI rose to 55.9 in February of 2018 from 55.5 in January, beating market forecasts of 55.4. The reading pointed to the strongest expansion in the manufacturing sector since October of 2014, mainly boosted by new business and employment, preliminary estimates showed.
Source: CNBC, Ilirika