SERBIA:

NBS: FX reserves in January 2018 at EUR 9.6bn
NBS FX reserves stood at EUR 9.6bn at end-January (according to preliminary data), covering 180% of money supply (M1) or more than five months’ worth of the country’s imports of goods and services, almost twice the level prescribed by the standard on adequate level of coverage of imports of goods and services by FX reserves. In January, inflows into FX reserves on account of net sale (higher sale than maturity) of securities, allocation of banks’ required FX reserves, donations, and other, covered almost half of the outflows on account of NBS FX sale interventions in the IFEM (net reduction of EUR 111.5 mn). Government net repayment of FX loans (EUR 61.3 mn), as well as the negative effect of intercurrency changes in the international financial market (EUR 141.2 mn) largely contributed to the decline in FX reserves in January this year.
Source: NBS

Cinkarna Celje considering construction of factory in Serbia – Potential investment of EUR 300 million
The chemical company Cinkarna Celje, which specializes in the production of titanium-dioxide, is considering the construction of a factory in Serbia after 2020, and the investments would amount to 250 to 300 million euros, the director general of the company, Tomaz Bencina, said. The company has been given the green light from the Supervisory Board and will now survey the locations and prepare a feasibility study – Bencina told STA and called the decision a historical move for the company.
Source: Ekapija

Kostic interested in part of Agrokor – New investments in Croatian tourism sector planned
Miodrag Kostic
The Serbian businessman Miodrag Kostic expressed public interest in purchasing parts of the Croatian concern Agrokor. He said that his company was following the events concerning Agrokor and the upcoming settlement of the company’s creditors. Agrokor is a big company, with big assets, which are certainly not stay within one company – Kostic told RTL. Certain parts of the concern are sure to be sold, and we will certainly be interested in the agricultural and agricultural product processing sector, as a big investor in this sector – Kostic said.
Source: Ekapija

REGION:

SBITOP lost 0.84 percent
SBITOP closed at 811.43 points, losing 0.84 percent yesterday. The stocks that gained the most were the stocks of Luka Koper, which gained 1.3 percent, closing at 31.2 EUR per share. Stocks of Petrol (-2.86%), SavaRe (-1.18) and Krka (-0.69%) lost the most.
Source: Ilirika

Slovenia aproching pre-crisis employmet growth rates
According to Bank of Slovenia the employment growth was again high again in November, and the average year-on-year growth in wages rose considerably due to higher payments. In November, the number of employees in the private sector rose by 4% year on year, which is close to the growth rates before the crisis.
Source: Ilirika

Current accunt surplus up by 706 million to 2813 million in 2017
In December 2017, the current account showed a surplus of 152 million EUR and was 129 million higher than in the same month of the previous year. In 2017, the current account surplus amounted to EUR 2813 million, which is EUR 706 million more than in 2016. The surplus of trade in goods increased by 89 million EUR and the trade surplus in services increased by 391 EUR million over the previous year.
Source: Bank of Slovenia

INO:

Stocks post 3-day winning streak as comeback from correction continues, Europe stocks close in the red amid corporate earnings, miners outperform
Wall Street closed higher as upbeat earnings from corporates aided the recovery in US stocks from their worst weekly slump in two years ahead of a crucial inflation report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 24640.45. The S&P 500 closed 0.26% higher, while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 7013.51, up 0.45%.
Investors cheered better-than-estimated earnings from PepsiCo and Under Armour, with the latter, in particular, revealing a surprisingly positive quarterly performance. Under Armour reported fourth quarter revenue of $1.36 billion, up 5% from the prior year period, and ahead of the $1.3 billion analysts had forecast.
Amazon is reportedly ramping up its medical supply business, sending shares of hospital suppliers lower. Cardinal Health, McKesson and Owens & Minor all fell at least 1.9 percent.
European equities finished Tuesday's trade on a relatively negative note, as caution continued to linger following the U.S.-led market sell-off last week. The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended the session down 0.63 percent provisionally, with most sectors moving into the red by the close.
Telecoms tumbled 1.10 percent as a sector by the close as earnings continue to trickle in. Shares of Telenet fell 5.46 percent on dividend concerns after the Belgian operator posted its 2017 results. Inmarsat slipped 5.67 percent after HSBC cut its price target on the stock.
Looking at individual stocks, Ubisoft surged 6.15 percent, making it the STOXX 600's top performer after reporting higher revenues for its third quarter. Meanwhile, Randstad, the world's second-largest staffing company, rose 2 percent after beating analysts expectations with a core profit up by 15 percent in its fourth quarter.
U.K. consumer price inflation remained at 3 percent in January, the same level as in December. The rate, as reported by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), was slightly higher than analysts' forecasts. Most economists were expecting a small fall in the CPI to 2.9 percent.
Source: CNBC, Ilirika