SERBIA:

Serbia's GDP grows 2.5% in Q4
Serbia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by a real 2.5% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2017, the country's statistical office said on Wednesday, confirming its flash estimate issued last month. On a quarterly comparison basis, Serbia's economy expanded by 0.6% in the fourth quarter of 2017, the statistical office said. The fourth quarter of 2017 saw a significant real growth of gross value added in the construction sector, of 17.8% year-on-year, while the sectors of wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, transport and storage and accommodation and food services expanded by 4.9%. The sectors of industry and water supply and wastewater management added 3.7% each. A drop in gross value added was recorded in the sector of agriculture, forestry and fisheries of 9.5%.
Source: SeeNews

Serbian industrial output in January 2018, up 10.6% y/y
Serbian industrial output in January 2018 was up 10.6% y/y, Serbian Statistical Office reported. The output is however, 6% lower versus average for 2017. Major contribution to this growth was given by production of nonmetal minerals, production of chemicals, oil and gas extraction and electric power production. Seasonal adjusted index for January, showed that overall industry posted 5.9% growth, while processing was up 6.8% versus average for 2017.
Source: SORS, Ilirika

BELEX ends February in red
Leading indices at Belgrade Stock Exchange, BELEX15 and BELEXline lost 2.8% in February, respectively. This drop was led by huge decrease of 17.8% at Energoprojekt (ENHL) and additionally supported by correction at Belgrade Airport (AERO). Trade volume arrived at EUR 25.1m but only EUR 3m was related to equities. The most traded names were Jedinstvo Sevojno (JESV), NIS (NIIS), Komercijalna Banka (KMBN), Fitofarmacija (FITO) and Belgrade Airport (AERO).Top loser was Energoprojekt, while major gainer was cooper processing company, Valjaonica bakra Sevojno (VBSE), with 9.3% m/m gain.
Source: BELEX, Ilrika

REGION:

SBITOP index gained 0.89 percent yesterday
SBIOP index closed at 817.82 points gaining 0.89 percent yesterdays. The shares that were traded and gained the most were the shares of Krka. Krka's stock value went up by 2.83 percent at 0,6 million trade volumen. Stocks of Zavarovalnica Triglav (+2.83) nad Cinkarna (+2.04%) also gained more than two percent.
Source: Ilirika

INO:

Dow closes 380 points lower, snaps longest monthly win streak since 1959, European stocks close lower on Powell’s comments, ITV down 7.6%
U.S. stocks fell sharply in choppy trade Wednesday, giving up earlier gains, as Wall Street wrapped up a volatile month for the major averages. The Dow Jones industrial average closed 380.83 points lower at 25,029.20, with Caterpillar as the worst-performing stock in the index. The S&P 500 pulled back 0.9 percent to close at 2,713.83, with energy as the worst-performing sector. The Nasdaq composite ended 0.8 percent lower at 7,273.01.
In corporate news, home improvement retailer Lowe's reported weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings, sending the company's stock down more than 6 percent. Booking Holdings — formerly known as Priceline — saw its shares spike more than 6 percent after reporting better-than-expected adjusted earnings.
European equities closed lower Wednesday afternoon following comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell committing to a gradual increase in interest rates. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.65 percent lower with all major bourses and most business sectors in negative territory.
Looking across the European benchmark, Dialog Semiconductor closed near the top of the index, up by 6.6 percent after reporting its latest results. On the other hand, Biomerieux fell more than 10 percent after posting results.
Bayer saw its fourth-quarter net profit fall due to a tax overhaul in the U.S. The firm didn't add any details on the merger with Monsanto but said that wants to see the deal closed in the second quarter. The stock closed 1.9 percent lower.
Ahold Delhaize's net income grew more than four times in the fourth quarter compared to the same period a year ago. Shares closed over 3 percent to the upside.
The Eurozone consumer price inflation is expected to ease to a 14-month low of 1.2 percent year-on-year in February 2018 from 1.3 percent in the previous month, in line with market forecasts.
Source: CNBC, Ilirika