The PX-50 index closed Friday up 2.5% on the week at 527.5 points, a 31-month high. CEZ, Cesky Telecom and Unipetrol all topped 52-week highs. The market rose after most major domestic blue-chip companies reported in-line Q1 2003 results. Ceske radiokomunikace, the main gainer last week, reported somewhat better-than-expected Q1 results and rose 6.2% to close Friday at CZK 193.6. Unipetrol gained 5.2% to CZK 48.80 on a good volume of USD 6.2 mil., 113% above its 12M average. Cesky Telecom rose by 3.7% to CZK 331. Komercni banka, again the volume leader last week, with a volume of USD 42 mil., rose by 0.8% to CZK 1998. Erste Bank and CEZ were both up 1.9% and 2.7%, respectively. Philip Morris CR was the only stock to weaken last week; it lost 0.6% of its value in closing Friday at CZK 11,255.
The overall market volume was USD 90.8 mil., 11% below the 12M average (the Prague Stock Exchange was closed for a national holiday on May 1).
Note that this week, Thursday, May 8, is a national holiday in the Czech Republic.
Jitka Oppitzová