The Prague Stock Exchange lost today, mainly driven down by Erste shares

Update: 24.05.2023 17:53

Prague – The Prague Stock Exchange weakened after three days of moderate growth. The PX index fell by 0.21 percent to 1317.25 points today. It was mainly dragged down by Austrian financial titles led by Erste Bank. This follows from data on the stock exchange website.

Six out of ten issues affecting the value of the index closed today’s trading with a loss. The securities of the Pilulka Lékárny chain lost the most, losing almost four percent.

“The Prague Stock Exchange lost today under the influence of nervousness on foreign markets, while Erste’s shares, which traditionally most closely copy events on European markets, were responsible for the decline,” said Wood & Company broker Vladimír Vávra.

Erste securities weakened by 3.23 percent to CZK 720 per piece. Shares of the Austrian insurance company VIG lost more than a percent, closing trading at a price of 618.50 crowns.

Shares of the energy group ČEZ prevented a more significant decline in the stock market today. Their price rose by 2.18 percent to CZK 1,033 per piece.

The shares of the Colt CZ Group SE holding also did well, increasing by 0.68 percent to 595. Today, the armaments group published economic data for the first quarter, when its net profit increased by 7.9 percent year-on-year to 587.8 million crowns.

The koruna strengthened slightly against the euro today, but weakened slightly against the dollar

The Czech currency strengthened slightly against the euro today and weakened slightly against the dollar. Around 17:00, it was trading at 23.68 CZK/EUR and 22 CZK/USD, compared to Tuesday’s close against the single European currency, it strengthened by two pennies, while against the dollar it lost two pennies. This follows from data from the Patria Online server.

“The global and local foreign exchange markets did not show any clear trend today. Although the euro fell temporarily against the dollar, in the end there was no major change from an intraday perspective,” pointed out Jan Vejmělek from Komerční banka. According to him, today the Hungarian forint made more significant gains than the koruna, while the Polish zloty, on the other hand, lost slightly.

Economists at Next Finance said it would seem logical for the koruna to weaken after news of a significant sell-off in the stock markets. According to them, investors do not perceive the koruna as a “safe haven”, but it is the opposite, the koruna has strengthened. “In the last hours and days, the koruna is creating a shield of hawkish comments from within the Czech National Bank,” he says.

Exchange rate of the Czech currency:

Source: Patria Online