The Prague Stock Exchange returned to growth last week after declining the week previous. The PSE’s headline PX-50 index gained 2.2% to 622.1 points, and the blue-chip PX-D index added 2.7% to 1,538 points.
The major gainer last week was Cesky Telecom, which added 5.0% to CZK 291.5 ahead of a scheduled dividend payment date today (a gross dividend of CZK 57.5 per share is due); some investment funds will have to reinvest the dividend income back into the market, which could be a positive catalyst for the stock in the coming days. CEZ closed the week stronger, up 3.6% to CZK 141.9, after a broker’s upgrade. Erste Bank rose by 2.9% to CZK 2,773, and Komercni banka rose 1.5% to CZK 2,442. On the other hand, Ceske radiokomunikace led the decliners as it lost 1.6% of its value on the week, followed by Unipetrol (-1.4%) and Philip Morris CR (-1.3%).
The overall traded volume on the PSE last week was USD 214.1m, which was 28% above the 12M weekly average of USD 166.7m.
Jitka Oppitzová