Stock prices in Prague soared yesterday as the PX-50 index posted its highest closing since January 2001, up 1.75% to 505.90 points. Despite the gains, Prague lagged behind peer bourses in Budapest and Warsaw (both up over 2%) and behind major pan-European bourses. Erste Bank represented the volume leader and the top gainer here yesterday, adding 4.61% to CZK 2,270 after large buy orders lifted the stock in Vienna (almost 230,000 shares were traded there). Komercni added 2.17% on the positive sentiment, while Cesky Telecom was down 0.93%, falling below CZK 300. Europe is likely to trade positively today following reports of attacks on the Iraqi leadership in Baghdad, prompting hopes that the war may be soon over; however, late selling on US markets last evening could dampen the sentiment somewhat. In general, the Czech market is likely to hold its gains of yesterday, with no major intra-day activity expected. Volume in the SPAD trading system reached USD 16.79 mil. on Monday.
Milan Procházka