The Czech market rallied on Friday, led by investor interest (from both domestic as well as international accounts) in CEZ. CEZ reported excellent Q1 results earlier in the week, on Tuesday. Moreover a number of local houses were caught in short positions which they closed Friday. CEZ rose 5.97% Friday, trading as high as CZK 91 per share. Komercni banka was stronger following Thursday’s price target upgrade from a major London bank and traded again well above CZK 1,800. Cesky telecom, however, lacked buyers, with foreign accounts lining up on the sell wide given weakness in European telco stocks. Today we expect a quiet trading session as the London market is closed for a public holiday. We expect CEZ and Komercni to dominate trading here.
Please note that Wednesday, May 8, is a public holiday in the Czech Republic; the PSE will be closed for the day.
(Milan Prochazka)