The Prague bourse PX index increased by 1.78% to reach 2,640.70 points on December 17, which was the highest daily closing in the history of the bourse, beating 1,940.44 points from February, while the previous record high was registered in October 2007.

The Prague Stock Exchange said in a press release that the rise in the index was helped by Vienna Insurance Group (VIG), while Komercni banka and Erste Bank “also performed well”. 

“The pre-Christmas rally on the Prague bourse continued [on December 17],” Tomáš Hazucha, broker at Wood & Company said, according to a statement published by the bourse. 

Hazucha added that the activity on the bourse was not high, however, and that “the volume of trades stayed below average at approximately CZK490mn” (€20.1mn).

Stocks of VIG firmed by 8.71% to CZK1,622, while stocks of Komerční banka (KB), the local branch of Société Générale, firmed by 1.49% to CZK1,159 and Erste Bank by 0.84% to CZK2,399. Other listed companies whose stocks firmed include metallurgical Gevorkyan, tobacco company Philip Morris ČR and the pharmaceutical chain Pilulka, the bourse statement said.

Stocks of other companies either weakened or stagnated, including the bourse leader, the majority-state-owned energy utility ČEZ, whose stocks were the most traded ones on the bourse, but weakened by 0.31% to CZK1,278.  

As of the morning of December 19, the PX index remained high at 2,647.49 points.