The Prague bourse gained 1.0% to 439.7 points on Wednesday as measured by the PX-50 index. The market was pushed higher by the US markets; we saw a moderate amount of activity here, though, and a limited number of orders. Komercni banka traded actively again, gaining 2.1% in a volume amounting to USD 7.4 mil. Komercni proves to be the best market proxy for investors as the stock trades in decent volume and is fairly correlated with international equity development. Other names moved sideways. Volume in the SPAD reached USD 11.72 mil.
We remain cautious about Czech equities in the short-term as investors could have concerns regarding the 9/11 and the possible strike on Iraq. The Czech market, however, should play a fairly defensive game. Until October 1, when Erste Bank shares begin trading on the Prague Stock Exchange, we do not foresee any major local driver.
(Milan Prochazka)