SERBIA:

EIB to provide 20 mln euro SME loan guarantee facility to Serbian banks
European Investment Fund (EIF) is going to unveil a fresh 20 million euro ($24.7 million) credit guarantee facility for Serbian banks to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the head of the European Investment Bank (EIB) for the Western Balkans, Dubravka Negre, said on Wednesday.The guarantee will be available to all Serbian banks and will be unveiled in the middle of March, Negre said in a video file posted on the website of Serbian news agency Tanjug.
Source: SeeNews, Tanjug

Serbia successfully completes three-year arrangement with International Monetary Fund – New program not to be financial
Serbia is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about a new arrangement, which will probably be agreed, but which will not be financial, as “we don’t need financial support, not even the precautionary kind”, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said. She pointed out that Serbia had changed a lot in the preceding three years, partly because of the arrangement with the IMF, which ends on February 22, and that the country had achieved macroeconomic stability, fiscal consolidation and discipline. Brnabic emphasized that there were still structural reforms that need to be carried out and that this would be discussed with the IMF.
Source: Ekapija

EIB analyzing feasibility of Nis-Merdare-Pristina highway – Approval for first section worth EUR 240 million in the second half of 2018
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has started assessing the feasibility of the Nis-Merdare-Pristina, Dubravka Negre, Head of EIB Regional Representation for the Western Balkans, told Tanjug and added that the financing of the first section, from Nis to Plocnik, was expected to be approved in the second half of 2018. Negre said that the value of the works in the first phase (the Nis-Plocnik section) was around EUR 240 million and that Serbia was expected to receive at least 20% of it as grants, whereas the rest was to be financed through EIB and EBRD loans.
Source: Ekapija

REGION:

SBITOP lost 0.27 percent
SBITOP lost 0.27 percent. Stocks that gained the most are the stocks of were the stocks of Gorenje (0.71%). Stock that lost were the stocks of Zavarovalnica Triglav (-1.6%), Luka Koper (-1.59%) and Krka (-0.35%).
Source: Ilirika

INO:

Nasdaq closes lower for fourth straight day, S&P 500 hangs on to slight gain, European markets recover losses by close, Barclays up over 4%
The Nasdaq composite closed lower for a fourth straight day on Thursday, notching its longest losing streak since November 2016. The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 snapped a two-day slide, but closed well off the highs as worries about rising rates lingered. The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the session 0.1 percent lower, while Dow was up 0.66%. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 ended Thursday's session 0.1 percent higher after a rollover in the final hour of trading.
In corporate news, Chesapeake Energy shares jumped 21.7 percent after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings. The stock was also the best performer in the S&P 500.
European stocks closed just below the flat line Thursday afternoon, as heightened expectations of faster interest rate hikes in the U.S. hampered risk appetite globally.The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.08 percent down, with major bourses and sectors pointing in different directions.
Barclays reported weaker-than-expected earnings Thursday. A below-forecast 10 percent rise in annual profit for 2017 was hit, in part, by the U.S. tax overhaul and a weaker dollar. But, its shares closed up 4.4 percent.
Denmark's Genmab soared to the top of the benchmark Thursday after the firm reassured investors about the sales growth of its blood cancer drug Darzalex. Shares of Europe's biggest biotechnology company closed 17.7 percent higher.
Last year, the European Central Bank (ECB) generated a net profit of EUR 1.28 billion, which is eight percent more than pre-tax, the bank reported.
Source: CNBC, Ilirika