The PX-50 index gained 0.61% to 492.80 points on Monday, the last trading day of March and of Q1 2003. Prague closed in positive territory despite continued and substantial losses on west European markets (CAC, -4.19%; STOXX 50, -3.50%; DAX, -3.85%) and lower EMEA indices (WIG 20, -1.57%; BUX, -1.99%; RTS -1.64%). Prague again showed its defensiveness and its low correlation with emerging- and western-market movements. Among domestic equities, only Komercni banka was weaker yesterday, closing down 1.20% on foreign selling. The rest of the market traded upward with CEZ adding 1.61%, Philip Morris CR rising 1.18%, and Cesky Telecom was up 1.87%. Volume in the SPAD system reached USD 16.34 mil. Yesterday’s gains could perhaps be attributed to a certain amount of “window dressing” on the part of some investors, but we have not seen indications of such orders in our flow lists. Today, the market will likely continue to trade on the upside; CEZ and Philip Morris CR could see their prices rise considerably higher.
Milan Procházka