The PX-50 index dropped 0.6% on Monday

CEZ was the weakest stock of the day on international selling, losing over 3% on the day; Zentiva similarly fell on the back of foreign supply. We think the sell orders were triggered by recent outflows from emerging market funds as well as a lowered outlook for emerging markets from leading investment banks. As for CEZ, we feel some investors are concerned over the political clashes in this country here and are reducing their positions, particularly in shares with direct government exposure. Even though we do not consider any tangible impact of the political turmoil on the listed companies as such, this factor places pressure on our market. Cesky Telecom gained 1.6% yesterday and broke above CZK 440. We believe the stock will trade up as the Czech government is expected to approve the Telefonica acquisition tomorrow. The acquisition will trigger an obligatory buy out, giving natural support to Cesky Telecom in weeks to come. We continue to expect further upside for Cesky Telecom and further short-term weakness in CEZ and Zentiva.

The foreign trade balance for February is to be released today at 9:00am CET. The market expects a surplus of CZK 5bn compared to CZK 3.4bn in January. Patria expects CZK 4bn.