The Prague Stock Exchange index fell today because of KB without a dividend

Commercial presentation Update: 3/05/2024 17:41
Issued by: 05/03/2024, 17:41

Prague – The Prague stock exchange index PX weakened today by 2.26 percent to 1520.22 points. It is its most significant intraday decline since the end of last June. It was mainly dragged down by the shares of Komerční banka, which traded today for the first day without the right to a dividend. This follows from data on the stock exchange website.

Securities of Komerční banka (KB) fell today by 10.12 percent to CZK 786 per piece. “Given today’s closing price and Thursday’s price, it can be stated that KB weakened more than the amount of the net dividend,” said Fio bank’s broker Pavel Hadroušek.

Today KB also announced the economic results for this year’s first quarter. Its net profit fell by 21.3 percent year-on-year to 2.8 billion crowns. Operating profit, on the other hand, rose by 1.7 percent to four billion crowns.

Among the other key titles of the Prague Stock Exchange, ČEZ and Erste banking group also lost today. ČEZ shares weakened by 1.22 percent to CZK 851, the Erste issue fell by 1.11 percent to CZK 1,115 per piece.

On the contrary, Colt CZ, Moneta Money Bank and Kofola ranked among the three profitable titles today. Shares of the arms manufacturer Colt rose by 3.32 percent to CZK 685. Moneta’s securities improved by 1.57 percent to 96.90 crowns, and Kofola’s issue strengthened by 0.37 percent.

The koruna weakened slightly against the euro today, while it strengthened against the dollar

At the end of the week, the koruna weakened slightly against the euro. Compared to Thursday’s close, today the Czech currency lost four pennies to 25.03 CZK/EUR. On the contrary, it strengthened against the dollar by 15 pennies, at 17:00 it traded at 23.24 CZK/USD according to the server Patria Online.

The koruna fell below the 25 CZK/EUR threshold on Thursday following the expected reduction in the base interest rate and the new macroeconomic forecast of the Czech National Bank (ČNB). Today, it corrected its gains slightly.

It is the forecast published by the central bank that is recording a stronger koruna, according to Purple Trading analyst Jaroslav Tupý. According to the forecast, interest rate cuts will be slower than expected. Initially, the market expected year-end rates to be below three percent, but now it looks like they will be slightly above four percent. “The koruna will benefit from this situation because the interest rate differential will remain at higher values and thus the attractiveness of the koruna for investors will remain,” said Tupý.

The koruna strengthened against the dollar for the second day in a row, having improved by 1.5 percent since Wednesday. On Thursday, it was helped by the CNB forecast, similar to the pair with the euro. “Today, on the other hand, the US dollar weakened after data from the local labor market was published, which showed an increase in the unemployment rate and a generally lower number of added jobs,” said XTB analyst Tomáš Cverna.