SERBIA:

D&B: Serbian public debt decreases fast
Serbia's public debt is falling sharply, the global credit rating agency Dun & Bradstreet said in its February report. The country managed to reduce its public debt from 74.7 %in 2015 to 63.6% at the end of 2017. This was a trigger for Fitch agency to revise Serbia’s credit rating upwards, the report from D&B says.
Source: Seebiz, Ilirika

Telenor Bank not to be sold to Czech PPF Group
Telenor Bank will not be sold to the Czech PPF Group, as confirmed for Novosti by the Telenor seat in Norway. Telenor Bank is not part of the transaction and Telenor still owns 100% of Telenor Bank – they point out in their answer to Novosti. The announced process of the sale of operations in the region of central and eastern Europe has no impact on the bank’s clients, nor their cooperation with the bank, in any way. All the deposits and credits are safe and Telenor Bank continues its regular operations.
Source: Ekapija

JESV: Jedinstvo keeps buying own shares
Jedinstvo Sevojno (JESV), infrastructural company, reported that it bought back additional 1,139 of own shares at Belgrade Stock Exchange. These stocks were acquired at a price of RSD 5,100 per share. At the moment the company holds 21,846 of own shares or 7.1% of total issued number. The buyback process is performed in line with GA decision from 22th June 2016.
Source: Belex, Ilirika

REGION:

SBITOP down 0.68% on Friday
Slovenian blue-chip index SBITOP was down 0.68% on Friday, impacted by global sell off after increasing USA-China trade tensions. Krka, pharmaceutical company was the most traded name on Friday, with EUR 488ths in volume, while its stock price remained flat at EUR 58 per share. Telekom Slovenije was a top looser with 2.39% decline, while insurance company Triglav was a daily gainer, among blue-chip names, with 0.32% jump.
Source: Ilirika

INO:

Dow drops more than 400 points into correction, posts worst week since Jan. 2016, European stocks follow Wall Street to close lower as trade war fears escalate
Stocks fell sharply on Friday, adding to their steep weekly losses, as investors assessed the possibility of a trade war brewing between the U.S. and China. Dow was down 1.7%, S&P500 lost 2.1%, while Nasdaq slumped 2.4%.
President Donald Trump pressed ahead with long-promised anti-China charges on Thursday. The U.S. president signed an executive memorandum that will impose tariffs on up to $60 billion in Chinese imports. In response, China's commerce ministry proposed a list of 128 U.S. products as potential retaliation targets, according to a statement on its website posted Friday morning.
In corporate news, shares of Dow-component Nike rose slightly after the apparel company reported better-than-expected earnings. Nike got a boost from sales in Greater China, which rose 24 percent during the third quarter.
European equities closed sharply lower on as well Friday, as heightened fears of a trade war shook global markets. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.9 percent, as the index followed in the footsteps of loss in the U.S.
Next was a rare gainer on the Stoxx 600, surging to the top of the European benchmark after optimistic comments from the British clothing chain's CEO Simon Wolfson. The company reported an 8 percent fall in annual profit in 2017, saying it was the most challenging year the company had faced in 25 years. Nonetheless, despite projecting a third consecutive decline this year, its shares were over more than 7.6%.
GlaxoSmithKline was also trading higher after it pulled out of the bidding for Pfizer's consumer health business. The company followed hot on the heels of Reckitt Benckiser, which withdrew its interest earlier in the week. Shares of GlaxoSmithKline were up almost 3.3 percent on the news.
Source: CNBC, Ilirka