The PX 50 index fell 1.67% to 383.6 points on Monday. The session started with a massive sell-off in CEZ, whose privatization tender received lower-than-expected bids (reported at CZK 135 bil.) and the market feared—correctly, it turned out—that the Cabinet would delay a privatization decision. CEZ traded as low as CZK 72.90 but eventually closed at CZK 74.30. As for Unipetrol, market reaction to the Cabinet’s decision Monday to sell the company to Agrofert, a Czech chemical group, was negative, and Unipetrol’s stock lost 12.74% to CZK 46.57. Trading in other stocks was rather limited, due to the focus on the privatization tenders. Total market volume stood at USD 10.6 mil.
(Dana Bebrova)