The PSE strengthened and outperformed the region during past week; Erste was the biggest gainer

Czech equities, as measured by the PX Index, were up by 3.6% for the week, to close at 1,881.5. The overall volume of trading on the PSE reached USD 1,075.6m, 9.6% above its 12M weekly average of USD 981.0m.

Erste Bank showed the best performance of the past week, gaining 8%, as local and international investors were active and copied trading in Vienna. Komercni banka finished the week down by 1.2% on profit taking, after the bank reached its new all-time-high. JPM upgraded its target price for Komercni by 11%. CEZ strengthened by 5.1%, after a couple of upgrades from Patria/KBC and ING. CEZ also reached new record levels. Unipetrol got some support from a Buy recommendation and the target price of CZK 368, at Erste. Both real estate developers closed the past week up, on improved sentiment in the sector. Orco increased by 3.7% and ECM 2.6%. ECM realized the option to buy an office building in Beijing.

For the current week there will be an usual number of macro data announcements, and we do not expect any important corporate catalysts.