Czech equities, as measured by the PX Index, increased by 3.8% to close last week at 1,494.5. The overall volume of trading on the PSE reached USD 577.1m, 25% below its 12M weekly average of USD 764.6m.
All Czech Blue Chips finished last week, in line with their CEE peers, up on the positive sentiment in developed markets. The star of the last week was Philip Morris, which rocketed up by 8% on the back of the international buyers' appetite for the stock. Both banks were up by about 5%, in line with the overall CEE banking sector. Erste Bank was supported by its CEO's bullish comments and an upgrade by some analysts. CEZ also showed more than a 4% increase thanks to interest from international accounts.
Telefonica O2 CR (Cesky Tel) gained as foreign investors were on the buying side and it followed along with the other EU telcos. Zentiva added a nice 3.4% and was at its all time high, despite the sharp fall back of its Hungarian peers. For this week, there are no major corporate catalysts on the horizon. The retail sales macro figures will be released and the Senate and municipal elections will be held at the end of the week.