Prague gained sharply (+2.59%) on Monday. The PX-50 index once again tops the important 500 level, yesterday at 505.90 points. Ceske radiokomunikace (CR) was the leading stock, up 6.82%, closing at CZK 1,409. We believe that CR's rapid gain is not based on fundamentals but rather is of a technical nature. It seemed that the market was short after a last-minute CR buying activity on Friday, and the first signals of fresh buying on Monday morning spurred news aggressive lift-offs. Moreover, we believe that today’s news of a two-month delay in CR privatization will be a negative factor for the stock. Other stocks moved sideways yesterday in low volumes (CEZ: 721,000 shares; Cesky Telecom: 267,500 shares; Komercni: 102,000 shares). Total traded volume reached USD 15.5 mil. on Monday.
(Milan Procházka)