INSTANT VIEW 2-Czech PMI ticks up in March, still very weak

                                
 ** This data is protected by copyright - please see
                                
 <PMI/DISCLAIMER>. For further information on changes to
                                
 data provision, please see footnote to this news story ***
                                
 
                                
 PRAGUE, April 1 (Reuters) - Czech manufacturing slowed its
decline in March from the previous month but still marked a very
weak first quarter, data from Markit Economics and ABN Amro
showed on Wednesday.
                                
 The Czech Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) inched up to 34.0
in March, from 32.6 in February and a record low set in January.
It was only the second rise in the last year and was still well
below the critical 50.0 mark for the ninth consecutive month.
                                
 The output component fell sharply in March, also extending
the current sequence of falling production to nine months.
                                
 Although the latest fall was the least extreme since
November, data for the first quarter as a whole point to a much
steeper rate of decline than the previous two quarters, Markit
said.
                                
 It said new orders continued to contract rapidly, albeit at
the slowest rate since last November. New export orders also
fell sharply, reflecting weakening demand from Western Europe in
particular.
                                
 Employment fell to a new record low, indicating the fastest
rate of decline in staffing since the survey began in July 2001.
Redundancies were linked to the need to remain productive in the
face of sharply falling new orders, Markit added.

****************************************************************
KEY POINTS:
                                
                               03/09      02/09      03/08
Purchasing Managers' Index        34.0       32.6       57.4
Output                            33.4       30.2       60.7
(For full table, double click on................[nPRA002471]
 
- A figure above 50 indicates expansion on the previous month
while a number below 50 signals contraction.

                                
 COMMENTARY:
                                
 DAVID MAREK, CHIEF ECONOMIST, PATRIA FINANCE
                                
 "The number shows that the greatest hit for the Czech
economy came in January and February.
                                
 "Statistics from overseas, Europe as well as the Czech
Republic, started to be rather mixed in March."
                                
 "I would not say it is some improvement of the situation,
but I would say it is the end of the decline (in the index)."
                                
 "PMI below 50 points is still negative and shows a
contraction, but the contraction is not accelerating."
                                
 
                                
 TIMOTHY ASH, HEAD OF RESEARCH (CEEMEA), RBS
                                
 "This data continues to paint a picture of a rapidly slowing
economy and would suggest that hopes of real GDP growth in 2009
are overly-optimistic."
 
 BACKGROUND:
- Report on last Czech c.bank rate decision......[ID:nPRA002453]
                                
                                 [ID:nQ281341] [ID:nLQ963361]
- January foreign trade figures...................[ID:nL9201435]
                                
                                               [ID:nL9237220]
- January industrial output........................[ID:nLN99883]
- Fourth-quarter GDP growth data................. [ID:nLB537777]
                                
                               [ID:nPRG001315] [ID:nLB387271]
 
 LINKS:
- For LIVE Czech economic data releases, click on       <ECONCZ>
- Instant Views on other Czech data                 [CZ/INSTANT]
- Overview of Czech macroeconomic indicators            [CZ/ECI]
- Key data releases in central Europe    [CEE-CONVERGENCE-WATCH]
- For Czech money markets data click on                <CZKVIEW>
- Czech money guide                                      <CZK/1>
- Czech benchmark state bond prices                   <0#CZBMK=>
- Czech forward money market rates                      <CZKFRA>

                                
 
                                
 ** Index copyright and database rights owned by Markit:
unlicensed copying strictly prohibited ** 
                                
 With immediate effect detailed PMI data are only available
under licence from Markit and customers need to apply to Markit
for a licence. For further information please phone Markit on ++
44 20 7260 2454
                                
 
 (Reporting by Mirka Krufova; Editing by Michael Winfrey)