The Prague Stock Exchange strengthened at the beginning of the working week, CEZ and Erste shares rose

Prague Stock Exchange. Illustrative photo.

Prague – The Prague Stock Exchange rose after a significant drop on Friday and the long weekend. The PX index rose by 0.14 percent to 1379.93 points today. Shares of Erste Bank and energy company ČEZ did well, while Moneta Money Bank weakened, according to data on the stock exchange's website. The koruna weakened against both major world currencies today.

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On Friday, the Prague Stock Exchange recorded the most significant decline since mid-March. The PX index fell by 2.71 percent to 1378.05 points, mainly due to the weakening of Moneta and Komerční banka shares. However, it closed the first working day of this week slightly in the positive with below-average trading volumes.

“ČEZ shares, which were the most traded title today, strengthened by 0.26 percent to CZK 1,150. Erste shares also rose by 0.15 percent to CZK 776. Other bank titles did not do so well,” stated broker Wood & Company Vladimír Vávra. Komerční banka shares ended the day unchanged at CZK 688.50, and Moneta securities lost 1.02 percent to CZK 77.50.

The issue of beverage company Kofola rose by 0.41 percent to CZK 247 today, tobacco shares Philip Morris by 0.79 percent to CZK 17,800 and solar Photon Energy by 1.25 percent to CZK 64.80. The securities of the insurance company VIG added 0.72 percent to CZK 625.50.

The koruna weakened against both major world currencies today

The Czech currency weakened against both major world currencies today. At 5:00 p.m., the koruna lost 13 pennies against the euro to 23.61 CZK/EUR, and 24 pennies against the dollar to 21.50 CZK/USD. This follows from data on the Patria Online server.

“Behind the movement, we mostly see a shift away from risk by global investors,” said analyst Tomáš Vlk from Patria Finance regarding the weakening of the koruna. “Domestic news is mixed as GDP (gross domestic product) beat estimates with narrow growth, while the Purchasing Managers' Index fell even deeper in April than last time,” he added.

The Czech Statistical Office announced today that GDP fell in the first quarter of this year by 0.2 percent year-on-year. The Czech economy thus recorded its first year-on-year decline since the first quarter of 2021. Compared to the last quarter of last year, however, GDP rose by 0.1 percent.

Conditions in the Czech manufacturing industry then worsened further in April. The main reason was a decrease in new orders due to weakening demand. The decline was the deepest since the beginning of the year, the purchasing managers' index (PMI) showed a value of 42.8 points, compared to 44.3 points in March. The level of 50 points in the index is the dividing line between growth and decline in the sector.

Czech currency exchange rate:

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Source: Patria Online