Spotrebiteľská dôvera klesá, ropné ceny rastú, dlh stúpa

WORLD

• US consumer confidence fell to the second-lowest level since 1952. The University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers index dropped to 47.8 points in September, significantly below expectations. Consumer inflation expectations rose to 4.6 percent – the highest since June, signaling continued concerns about rising prices.

EUROPE

• Global bond sell-offs pushed the German ten-year yield above 3.5 percent. The US yield rose slightly on Friday after crossing the 4.9 percent mark on Thursday, while Brent oil price holds around $105.4 per barrel. Deutsche Bank warns of stagflation fears and France lowered its growth outlook.
• Germany allocated 50.4 billion euros to mitigate the energy crisis. The Federal Ministry of Finance calculated aid during the energy crisis at 50.4 billion euros distributed across 27 measures, excluding lost VAT revenue on gas.
• The EU implemented only 26 percent of the recommendations from the Draghi report on competitiveness. An independent tracker by the JEDI Foundation found that two years after publication, none of the thirty key measures have been met.

SLOVAKIA

• Payments by foreigners in Slovakia increased by almost a third this summer. Global Payments measured a year-on-year increase in cashless payments by foreign tourists of 29.71 percent.
• Mochovce 4 reached reactor criticality, NKÚ recalls budget increase to 5.6 billion euros. Slovenské elektrárne achieved reactor criticality at Mochovce Unit 4, while NKÚ stated state failure, delays of over 12 years, and a budget increase from 2.8 to 5.6 billion euros.
• Sanctions against MERE owners froze ChainStores SK accounts, August salary deadline remains open. The EU Council added the owners of the MERE chain to the sanctions list, leading to the freezing of accounts of the Slovak operating company ChainStores SK. Employees remain without notice and the August salary deadline is still unclear.
• Food accounts for 26.3 percent of household expenditure, Lidl is discounting hundreds of products. According to Eurostat, food and non-alcoholic beverages account for 26.3 percent of Slovak household expenditure, prompting Lidl to discount hundreds of products by up to 30 percent.
• Peter Goliaš and Alexej Beljajev pointed out that competitiveness depends on innovation and other factors besides labor productivity. The Director General of the Office of the Government of the Slovak Republic Peter Goliaš and Alexej Beljajev emphasized that innovation and other factors play an important role in addition to labor productivity.

GOLD

• De Nederlandsche Bank moved part of its gold to London and France withdrew the remainder from the Fed. DNB moved part of its reserves from the US and Canada to London, while France removed all exposure to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Analysts say the risk of gold confiscation is extremely low.

CRYPTO

• Memecoin LAPTOP linked to Hunter Biden crashed almost 99 percent after launch. The LAPTOP token, which reached $190.81 after launch, quickly fell to around $1.80, highlighting the high volatility and risk of memecoins.

REAL ESTATE

• US sales of existing homes fell in August to the lowest level in over a year. The decline in sales is due to high mortgage rates, although home prices remain higher year-on-year.

Translated from the Slovak original and checked automatically: every figure must match the source, or this version is not published.