PRAGUE, April 4 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Czech financial markets on Monday.
ALL TIMES GMT (Czech Republic: GMT + 2 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA=========================
February retail sales data at 0700 GMT.
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PRAGUE - The Czech central bank will release minutes from the March 24 board meeting where it voted 5-1 to hold interest rates flat. (0700 GMT)
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PRAGUE - The statistical bureau will release 2010 budget deficit and debt data at 0700 GMT within a regular notification for the European Union.
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PRAGUE - Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for March will be released at 0830 GMT.
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PRAGUE - The Finance Ministry will release end-March budget data at 1200 GMT.
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CZECH PMI DIPS, STILL STRONG: The Czech Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dipped for the second month in a row in March to 58.6 in from February's 59.8 and a record high in January, reflecting weaker contributions from the two main components, new orders and output.
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EAST EU PMI STRONG: Manufacturing increased in Poland and dipped slightly in the Czech Republic and Hungary in March, with countries remaining solidly in positive territory on the back of export-led growth in the euro zone.
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MINUTES: NO DOMESTIC DEMAND-PULL PRESSURES: The Czech central bank board mostly agreed at its March 24 meeting that risks were balanced and there were no signals of demand-pull pressures from the domestic economy, minutes from the meeting showed on Friday.
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DOKVANY TO SHUT UNIT 4: Czech power firm CEZ <
> said on Friday it would shut down the 456 megawatt Unit 4 of its Dukovany nuclear power station due to leaking piping in the containment area.Story: [
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BUDGET SHOWS DEFICIT THOUGH SMALLER THAN A YEAR AGO: The Czech central state budget showed a 25.2 billion crown ($1.46 billion) deficit at the end of March, the Finance Ministry said on Friday.
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CEE MARKETS: The Polish zloty dipped on Friday on uncertainty over the country's balance of payments, while the Czech crown rose as Prague appeared on track to meet its year-end deficit target.
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CEE POWER: Electricity for 2012 delivery hit a fresh two-year high on Friday as market participants anticipated Germany might permanently shut down a number of nuclear plants now temporarily suspended, traders said.
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] Related news: [ ] ---------------------- MARKET SNAPSHOT ------------------------ Index/Crown Currency Latest Prev Pct change Pct changeclose on day in 2011 vs Euro <EURCZK=> 24.435 24.447 0.05 2.26 vs Dollar <CZK=> 17.169 17.267 0.57 8.03 Czech Equities <
> 1,257.3 1,257.3 0 2.65 U.S. Equities < > 12,376.72 12,319.73 0.46 6.9 Pvs close or current levels vs prior domestic close at 1500 GMT ==========================PRESS DIGEST=========================FINMIN INVESTIGATING SAZKA: Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek sent officials from the tax office to indebted lottery company Sazka to find out whether documents have been falsified and whether CEO Ales Husak has illegally taken money out of the company.
Hospodarske noviny, page 17
KYOCERA TO EXPAND CZECH OPS: Japanese tech company Kyocera <6971.T> will expand its production of solar panels based in the northern Czech town of Kadan. It will invest 700 million crowns and add 400 workers to its current 600. The demand for solar panels has risen after the Fukushima disaster and Germany's decision to curb power production from nuclear plants.
Hospodarske Noviny, page 21
CENTRAL BANK CUTS PIIGS BOND EXPOSURE: The Czech central bank cuts last its holdings of Irish, Italy's, Greek, and Spanish bonds to 35.7 million from 143.3 billion.
E15, page 1
CZECHS AGAINST EURO: An opinion poll by Sanep agency found that 74 percent of Czechs are against adopting the euro and 73 percent are against providing any kind of loans to indebted EU countries, the poll showed.
Pravo, page 3
Reuters has not verified the media reports, nor does it vouch for their accuracy.
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