Czech equities, as measured by the PX Index, strengthened by 0.7% for the week ending March 21 to close at 1,516.9. The overall volume of trading on the PSE reached USD 848.1m, 30.7% below its 12M weekly average of USD 1,224.1m.
Activity declined towards the end of the week due to the upcoming Easter holiday. The best performing stock was , which strengthened on the back of both international and domestic interest by 6.5%. CEZ was, as usual, the most actively traded listing and it added almost 2% over the past week. Komercni Banka declined as BNP abandoned any plans to takeover its parent company . increased as politicians postponed any decision about a smoking ban in restaurants and pubs. reported its 2007 results, which came in more-or-less in line with expectations, however management announced lower EBITDA guidance than the market had expected. was off in the week by 2.5%. Both real estate developers traded on the PSE, and , moved down – by 3.5% and 3.9% respectively.
This week starts with a new recalculated base for the main PX Index and the new comer has also been included. Additionally, this week the CNB should be making a decision about monetary policy going forward. We don't expect to see any changes to the main interest rate. There will also be a set of results announcements. , and are scheduled to report their numbers this week.