Slovakia - Factors To Watch on Feb 9

    Here are news stories, press 
repors and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial 
markets on Friday. 
     
    DECEMBER FOREIGN TRADE DATA 
    The Statistics Office will publish December foreign trade 
data, 9 a.m. (0800 GMT). Analysts forecast foreign trade deficit 
of 10.0 billion crowns. 
     
    JANUARY INFLATION DATA 
    The Statistics Office will publish January headline and core 
inflation data, 9 a.m. (0800 GMT). Analyst forecast inflation of 
0.5 percent on the month, for an annual rate of 2.6 percent. 
    Analysts also forecast core monthly inflation at 0.6 
percent, and the annual rate at 2.2 percent. 
     
    FOREX RESERVES DATA 
    The central bank will publish the weekly foreign currency 
reserves data, 2 p.m. (1300 GMT). 
     
    DEC INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT SLOWS, OUTLOOK BRIGHT 
    Slovak industrial output growth slowed in December, data 
showed on Thursday, but the key car industry showed a record 
annual jump and analysts expected strong production growth 
throughout the year. 
    [ID:nL08223573] [RTRS-MCE-ECI-SK] 
     
    CROWN SLIDES VS EURO, EYES TRADE, CPI DATA 
    A regional correction knocked the Slovak crown down against 
the euro on Thursday as investors await the release of December 
foreign trade and January inflation data on Friday. 
    [ID:L08367579] [RTRS-MMT-FRX-SK] 
     
    DEC IND OUTPUT MATCHES MKT FCAST 
    Slovak industrial output rose by a real 8.9 percent 
year-on-year in December, slowing from a 9.8 percent increase in 
November, Slovak Statistics Office said on Thursday. 
    [ID:nL08798588] [RTRS-MCE-ECI-SK-LEN] 
     
    DEC RETAIL SALES EASE TO +5.8 PCT Y/Y 
    Slovak retail sales rose by a real 5.8 percent year-on-year 
in December, slowing from a 7.4 percent increase in November, 
data from the Slovak Statistics Office released on Thursday 
showed. 
    [ID:nPRG000229] [RTRS-RET-ECI-MCE-SK-LEN] 
     
    DEC REAL AVERAGE IND WAGE +0.6 PCT Y/ 
    The real average industrial wage in Slovakia rose by 0.6 
percent year-on-year in December, compared with a 0.5 percent 
rise in November, the Statistics Office said on Thursday. 
    [ID:nL08120399] [RTRS-MCE-ECI-SK-LEN] 
     
    DEC CONSTRUCTION OUTPUT +17.6 PCT Y/Y 
    Slovak construction output rose by a real 17.6 percent 
year-on-year in December after 11.7 percent growth in November, 
the Statistics Office said on Thursday. 
    [ID:nL08263891] [RTRS-MCE-ECI-SK-LEN] 
     
    PRESS DIGEST 
    ------------ 
    PARLIAMENT TENTIONS 
    Coalition and opposition deputies were locked in a heated 
debate on Thursday, with the ruling MPs saying the opposition was 
arrogant, and opposition deputies accusing the coalition MPs of 
violating their rights. 
    Pravda, page 2 
     
    TRADE UNION POWERS  
    The parliament is expected to approve a law giving more 
powers to trade unions. Employers said the proposed legislation 
would force companies to accept wages dictated by trade unions, 
which would hurt Slovakia's competitiveness and cause lay offs. 
    Hospodarske Noviny, page 1 
     
    KOSOVO SPLIT 
    Slovakia is split on the possible separation of the Kosovo 
province from Serbia. Foreign Minister Jan Kubis said Kosovo 
appeared to be on the way to independence, but the ruling 
coalition parties have yet to present their stance. 
    Sme, page 2 
     
    United States and other Group of Seven countries, see 
. For a diary of forthcoming Slovak events, double 
click [SK/DIARY], and a calendar of east European economic 
indicators, see [CONV/DIARY]. 
     
    News editor of the day: Peter Laca on +421 2 5341 8402; fax: 
+421 2 5341 8403 
    E-mail: editorial@reuters.sk 
    Reuters Messaging: martin.dokoupil.reuters.com@reuters.net 
     
 For real-time index quotes, double click in brackets: 
 Warsaw WIG20   Budapest BUX   Prague PX50  
 Other related news: 
 Slovak equities      [SK-E]  E.Europe equities           [.CEE] 
 Slovak money         [SK-M]  Czech debt                  [CZ-D] 
 Slovak Indicators  [SK-ECI]  Emerging forex          [EMRG/FRX] 
 Eastern European     [EEU]   All emerging markets        [EMRG] 
 Hot stocks           [HOT]   Stock markets                [STX] 
 Market debt news     [DBT]   Forex news                   [FRX] 
 TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets                         [TOP/EMRG] 
 TOP NEWS -- Convergence watch                        [TOP/EAST] 
 
 ((Compiled by Martin Santa; Bratislava Newsroom; Email: 
editorial@reuters.sk; +421-2-5341-8402)) 
 ($1=26.92 Slovak Crown) 
  

[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]