Czech Republic - Factors To Watch on July 26

...ALL TIMES GMT (Czech Republic: GMT + 2 hours) 
 
 ======================== ECONOMIC DATA ======================== 
    No economic data are due out. The next scheduled indicator 
release is on Tuesday, July 31, when the central bank publishes 
June M2 money supply. 
    Real-time economic data releases.................... 
 
    Previous stories on Czech data............[CZ-RTRS-LEN-ECI] 
    Overview of economic data and forecasts......... 
    Updates on Czech currency............................[CZK/] 
 
 ========================== TOP STORY ========================== 
    ENERGY PRICES RISE: Speculative interest drove Czech 2009 
power prices above German benchmarks on the first day of 
two-year futures trading on the Prague Energy Exchange (PXE), 
re-inforcing the outlook for a rise in prices in central Europe. 
    Stories: [nL25884601] [nL2527538] 
    Related news: [RTRS-LEN-CZ-ELG] 
 
 =========================== EVENTS ============================ 
    C.BANK MEETING: The central bank (CNB) governing board meets 
on interest rates. A policy announcement is expected sometime 
after 1000 with a news conference to follow at 1330. 
    All but one of 15 analysts in a Reuters poll expected the 
CNB to raise the policy rate  by a quarter of a 
percentage point to 3.0 percent, its highest in nearly 5 years. 
One lone voice expected no change until at least September. 
    Poll results: [CNB/INT] Related news: [RTRS-LEN-CZ-CEN-INT] 
    Factbox on east European central bank meetings: [nL20209196] 
     
    TELEFONICA O2 CR : Telecoms operator Telefonica 
O2 Czech Republic, a unit of Spain's Telefonica , 
releases second-quarter results at 1400. Analysts polled by 
Reuters forecast a 10 percent year-on-year rise in net profit to 
2.44 billion crowns on average. 
    The company holds a conference call with investors at 1530. 
    Story: [nL20814838] Related news: [RTRS-LEN-CZ-POL] 
 
 ======================= MARKET SNAPSHOT ======================= 
 
 Index/Unit           Value          Change          Pct Change 
 PX             1851.6           10.0            0.54 
 DJIA         13785.1           68.1            0.50 
 EUR/CZK      28.140         -0.008         -0.03 
 USD/CZK         20.512          0.008          0.04 
 EUR/USD          1.3710         0.0008         0.06 
 EUR/JPY     165.13           0.34           0.21 
 5Y YIELD   4.26 
 15Y YIELD  4.72 
 Previous close or current levels vs prior domestic close at 1500 
 
 ==================== ELSEWHERE IN THE NEWS ==================== 
 
    CEZ : The company reiterated its 2007 net profit 
forecast, saying the management was confident it would offset 
lower than expected revenue from distribution by saving costs. 
    Story: [nL25864769] Related news: [RTRS-LEN-CEZPsp.PR] 
     
    CEZ INVESTMENT RATING: Morgan Stanley has cut CEZ to 
equal-weight from overweight with a target share price of 1,150 
crowns. The stock closed at 1,114 crowns on Wednesday. 
    Story: [nWNA5290] Related news: [RTRS-LEN-CZ-RCH] 
     
    CZECH RAILWAYS: The government wants to split state held 
Czech Railways into rail-freight and passenger transport 
companies in April 2008 as it readies the railway for possible 
privatisation. 
    Story: [nL25867791] Related news: [RTRS-LEN-CZ-POL] 
     
    SEARCH FOR NEW EU AMBASSADOR: The government has compiled a 
list of candidates to replace Jan Kohout as the Czech Republic's 
European Union Ambassador. Former Industry and Trade Minister 
Vladimir Dlouhy, who currently advises investment bank Goldman 
Sachs, has been asked to consider the offer. 
    Lidove Noviny, page 1  
    Related news: [RTRS-LEN-CZ-EU] 
 
 
 (Reuters has not verified any of the newspaper reports that may 
be quoted above and does not vouch for their accuracy.) 
 
 
 For Instant Views of key economic data click on    [CZ/INSTANT] 
 For summary of economic data and forecasts           
 For diary of forthcoming Czech events                [CZ/DIARY] 
 For calendar of east European economic indicators  [CONV/DIARY] 
 TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets                         [TOP/EMRG] 
 TOP NEWS -- Convergence watch                        [TOP/EAST] 
 
 For an economic indicator diary for the euro zone, the United 
 States and other Group of Seven countries see          
 
 For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: 
 Warsaw WIG20   Budapest BUX   Prague PX  
 
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