Prague bourse drops steeply, back below 2,000 pts

Prague, April 4 (CTK) - The Prague Stock Exchange (BCPP) slumped steeply today, as its headline PX index dropped 5.32 percent to 1,951.67 points, getting below 2,000 points after a month, according to data from the bourse's website and analysts' comments.

Over the past trading week, the PX index went up only on Tuesday and overall it fell by 7.9 percent, which is the steepest weekly decline since the start of the COVID-19 epidemic in the Czech Republic five years ago.

"The PX index today closed with its biggest weekly loss since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, when it lost as much as 14.3 percent in one week," said Martin Singer of Fio banka.

Stock markets are falling globally after the announcement of tariffs on imports to the USA. In addition, China today announced reciprocal tariffs on US products.

"The PX index has fallen below the 2,000-point mark, while a week ago it was at its all-time highs of around 2,145 points," Wood & Company broker Tomas Hazucha noted. The last time the PX index closed trading below 2,000 points was on March 5.

According to Hazucha, all the main titles on the Prague Stock Exchange faced strong sell-offs today, with Erste Bank's shares falling most significantly by 7.98 percent to Kc1,436 apiece.

"The trading volume was unusually high for the Prague Stock Exchange, exceeding Kc2.2bn," Hazucha noted. Banks alone recorded deals with Kc1.5bn, Singer said.

Among other financial titles, Komercni banka lost 5.07 percent to Kc1,011 and Moneta Money Bank erased 7.55 percent to Kc132.20. Insurer VIG wrote off 4.81 percent to Kc950.

Arms manufacturer Colt CZ lost 5.42 percent to Kc681. "On Thursday, the arms company announced that the introduction of tariffs will have a real impact on the performance of the entire group, especially on EBITDA. However, the company does not expect the reciprocal tariffs from the US to have a material impact on its overall revenues," Hazucha said.

Energy group CEZ shares traded in the volume of Kc0.5bn, closing 2.98 percent lower at Kc1,106.

Drone maker Primoco UAV fell by 4.09 percent to Kc820, engineering company Doosan Skoda Power slid by 4.62 percent to Kc310 and beverage maker Kofola declined by 4.74 percent to Kc422. Tobacco company Philip Morris shed 2.14 percent to Kc17,360.

tam/er

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