Economy of Europe

The banking sector shook off foreign and domestic concerns - related to the decline of US lender First Republic and the promise by main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras to nationalize National Bank of Greece if he comes to power - and swung to gains at the end of Wednesday's bourse session, leaving the benchmark with moderate gains.

BELGRADE - The Serbian dinar's official median exchange rate against the euro is 117.2763 dinars for one euro on Tuesday, which is a slight change from Monday, the National Bank of Serbia said.

The dinar is up by 0.1 pct against the euro m-o-m and by 0.3 pct y-o-y and steady relative to the beginning of the year.

The widely anticipated upgrading of Greece's outlook to "Positive" by Standard & Poor's on Friday was taken in the traders' stride in Monday's bourse session, with many of them engaging in some profit taking that focused on banks and construction companies. Turnover posted a considerable decline though.

The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF), Thrivest and Pancreta Bank pledged to participate in a share capital increase plan by Attica Bank worth up to 393 million euros as part of a merger deal, Attica Bank said in an announcement. 

Public Power Corporation (PPC) on Thursday announced it has reached a deal to increase its equity stake in electricity power distribution and supply companies in Romania, following an agreement reached on March 9 to acquire all of Enel's activities in the country. 

Passenger traffic at the 14 largest airports outside of Athens - operated by Fraport Greece - showed a slight decrease in the first quarter of this year compared to the corresponding period in 2019.

Greece's four systemic banks showed high profitability of 3.7 billion euros last year, against losses of €4.7 billion in 2021, while also recording one of the highest net interest margins among European banks.

Thursday's bourse session at Athinon Avenue proved to be the second in a row with losses for most stocks, although in the closing auctions the main index contained its decline and the banks index actually swung into gains. Turnover dropped to the lowest level in almost two weeks, but Friday's session is expected to make up for it.

In 2022, the average hourly wage in the entire EU economy was 22.9 euros, and in the Eurozone - 25.5 euros, according to data released today by the European statistical service Eurostat, cited by BTA. Compared to 2021, it grows by 4.4 percent in the EU and 4 percent in the Eurozone.

BELGRADE - The Serbian dinar's official median exchange rate against the euro is 117.2892 dinars for one euro on Thursday, which is a slight change from Wednesday, the National Bank of Serbia said.

The dinar is steady against the euro m-o-m and up by 0.4 pct y-o-y.