Czech equities, as measured by the PX Index, were off by 3.0% last week to close at 1,760.0. The overall volume of trading on the PSE reached USD 575.5m, 16.2% below its 12M weekly average of USD 687.1m. The Czech market was influenced by the negative numbers coming out of the US during the past short week that started off the new year. Only CEZ and Telefonica O2 CR managed to close in positive territory. CEZ was well supported and closed stronger despite some selling pressure at the end of the week. Telefonica O2 CR also finished up – being viewed by investors as a defensive stock. The banks and real estate companies were hit hard. Erste Bank moved in line with trading in Vienna and became the biggest laggard of the week. The developers Orco and ECM lost 7.4% and 8.1% respectively as both local and international investors were on the sell side. For the coming week, we are not expecting any major corporate catalysts. Only the regular amount of macroeconomic data will be released.