All Czech blue chips were down last week, except for Unipetrol (+2.4%) and Philip Morris CR (+0.6%). Unipetrol gained 9.1% on Friday alone, after news surfaced that Agrofert might abandon its intention to acquire the company; the gain was based on pure speculation, though, as the reports have not been confirmed.
The PX-D index lost 1.4% on the week, to 1,282.1 points. Similarly, the PX-50 index lost 1.3%, closing Friday at 473.3 points. Cesky Telecom was the week’s top loser, losing 3.2% to CZK 337.50 by Friday. CEZ, the second most traded stock last week (USD 29.3 mil.), also led the market down, losing 1.9% (CZK 96.74). Both banking stocks, Ceska sporitelna and Komercni banka, lost (-0.3% to CZK 373.70 and -1.0% to CZK 1,901, respectively). Komercni banka traded in a good volume of USD 45.7 mil. last week, with investor interest obvious on both the sell and buy sides, though sellers dominated (the stock traded at CZK 1,953 at one point Monday). Ceske radiokomunikace finished the week almost flat at CZK 382.40. Total equity trading volume on the PSE was USD 124.2 mil. last week, 34% above the 12M average.
(Jan Hajek)