BRATISLAVA, March 1 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial markets on Thursday. JAN-FEB BUDGET The finance ministry will publish the central state budget balance for January-February. SLOVAK FOREIGN POLICY The foreign ministry will hold a news conference on foreign policy directions, 11 a.m. (1000 GMT). DELL SALES CENTRE Dell will open its new sales centre for Europe, 9 a.m. (0800 GMT). HZDS TO MEET UNIONS A ruling coalition party HZDS will meet trade unions representatives on the new labour code draft, 12 a.m. (1100 GMT). INFLATION SLOWS IN JAN, RATE CUT SEEN LATER Slovakia's EU-norm inflation slowed down in January on a smaller annual rise in energy prices, confirming a favourable inflation outlook and underlining market expectations of monetary policy easing later in the year. [ID:nL2851371] [RTRS-ECI-INT-PLCY-SK] TELEFONICA O2 SLOVAKIA SAYS LAUNCHES GSM NETWORK Telefonica O2 Slovakia said on Wednesday it had launched the first part of its GSM mobile network, with more than 200,000 connected users for the EU member's third mobile phone network. [ID:nL28668533] [RTRS-TEL-EUROPE-SK] JAN EU-NORM CPI IN LINE WITH FORECASTS Slovak consumer prices rose 0.5 percent month-on-month in January, according to EU-norm data, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.2 percent, data from the Statistics Office showed on Wednesday. [ID:nL28746894] [RTRS-MCE-ECI-SK] JAN PPI BELOW MKT FORECASTS Slovak producer prices fell 0.5 percent month-on-month in January, below market expectations, putting the annual inflation rate for factory-gate costs (PPI) at 3.4 percent, data showed on Wednesday. [ID:nL28907538] [RTRS-MCE-ECI-SK] CROWN REGAINS GROUND, BUT SENTIMENT SHAKY The Slovak crown rebounded from two-week lows against the euro on Wednesday as the market calmed down after a regional sell-off in the previous session, but dealers said the unit's direction was hazy in the short run. [ID:nL28723590] [RTRS-MMT-FRX-SK] PRESS DIGEST ------------ SLOVAK TROOPS TO KANDAHAR The government has agreed to redeploy Slovak troops in Afganistan from the capital city of Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar later this summer. Pravda, page 1 NEGOTIATIONS ON GABCIKOVO The government will negotiate with the main power company Slovenske Elektrarne (SE), owned by Italy's Enel , on conditions under which SE uses Slovakia's largest hydro power plant Gabcikovo. Pravda, page 11 CBANKER ON EURO A central bank board member, Peter Sevcovic, said advantages of euro adoption in 2009 will prevail over possible disadvantages. Sevcovic said the country would be ready to adopt the euro in 2009, and that halting the process would bring many negative effects. Sme, page 6 AUSTRIA'S DOPPELMAYR TO INVEST SKK 220 MLN Austrian Doppelmayr will invest 220 million crown ($8.44 million) to launch production of cableways parts. Hospodarske Noviny, page 13 For news on upcoming events in the 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: peter.laca.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=26.08 Slovak Crown)