Czech Republic - Factors To Watch on Feb 18

                                
  PRAGUE, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press
reports and events to watch which may affect Czech financial
markets on Thursday.
                                
 ALL TIMES GMT (Czech Republic: GMT + 1 hour)

=========================ECONOMIC DATA=========================
                                
 Real-time economic data releases....................<ECONCZ>
                                
 Previous stories on Czech data.............[CZ-RTRS-LEN-ECI]
                                
 Overview of economic data and forecasts..........<CZ/ECON15>
                                
 Updates on CEE currencies.............................[CEE/]
                                
 
=========================EVENTS=============================
                                
 PRAGUE - 13-week T-bill auction.
                                
 Related news: [RTRS-LEN-CZ-DBT]

                                
 PRAGUE - Czech central bank governing board to hold a
regular weekly meeting. It is not scheduled to discuss monetary
policy issues.
                                
 Related news: [RTRS-LEN-CZ-PLCY]
                                
 
                                
 PRAGUE - Komercni Banka <BKOMsp.PR> to release 2009 results
(0730 GMT). In-house presentation for analysts at 0800 GMT,
conference call at 1500 GMT.
                                
Related news: [RTRS-LEN-CZ-RES]
                                

========================MORNING NEWS===========================
                                
 C.BANKER ON RATES: Czech interest rates have hit the bottom
and the question for the central bank is when to start
tightening, central bank Vice-Governor Mojmir Hampl was quoted
as saying.
                                
 Story: [ID:nLDE61H031] Related news: [RTRS-LEN-CZ-PLCY]
 =========================TOP NEWS=============================
                                
 KOMERCNI EARNINGS: Czech lender Komercni Banka's <BKOMsp.PR>
fourth-quarter net profit is expected to have fallen amid lower
market activity, with the cost of risk in the loan portfolio
remaining stable, a Reuters poll found. 
                                
 Story: [ID:nLDE61E251] Related news: [RTRS-LEN-CZ-RESF]
                                
 
                                
 EXTREMISM: A Czech court banned the far-right Workers' Party
on Wednesday, the first time since the end of communist rule in
1989 that a political party has been outlawed on the grounds of
extremism.
                                
 Story: [ID:nLDE61G1I6] Related news: [RTRS-LEN-CZ-JUDIC]
                                
 
                                
 CEE MARKETS: Central European currencies strengthened
slightly on Wednesday, boosted by rebounding stock markets and
rising confidence about the global economic outlook, with only
Romania's leu losing ground.
                                
 Story: [ID:nLDE61G0KE] Related news: [RTRS-LEN-CZ-FRX]
                                
 
                                
 TOURISM WANES: The number of foreign visitors to the Czech
Republic dropped 8.5 percent to 6.08 million last year,
statistics office data showed on Wednesday, as the economic
crisis slowed tourism.
                                
 Story: [ID:nLDE61G147] Related news: [RTRS-LEN-CZ-FRX]
 ---------------------- MARKET SNAPSHOT ------------------------
 Index/Crown Currency  Latest    Prev    Pct change   Pct change
                                
                              close   on day       in 2010
 Czech Equities <.PX>   1152,5      1152,5    1,03       3,15
vs Euro   <EURCZK=>    25,81    25,802    -0,03      1,93
vs Dollar    <CZK=>    19,024     18,969   -0,29       -3,52
 U.S. Equities <.DJI>  10309,24  10268,81  0,39      -1,14
 Pvs close or current levels vs prior domestic close at 1600

=========================PRESS DIGEST===========================
                                
 MORTGAGES: Mortgage lending swung into contraction in
January after it was recording month on month advances in the
second half of 2009, consultancy Fincentrum said. The volume of
mortgages fell by 30 percent month on month in JanuaRy and was
down 7 percent in an annual comparison. For the whole of 2009 it
dropped by 39 percent.
                                
 Hospodarske Noviny, page 18
                                
 
                                
 M&A: The volume of mergers and acquisitions fell steeply
last year and so did prices of assets, a KPMG research showed.
The consultancy predicts this year will provide good
opportunities for deals in the auto and real estate sectors,
mainly projects from the Orco Property Group <ORCOsp.PR>
portfolio.
                                
 Lidove Noviny, page 16
                                
 
                                
 NUCLEAR TENDER: All three bidders France's Areva SA
<CEPFi.PA>, Russia's Atomstroyexport and Westinghouse Electric,
a unit of Toshiba Corp <6502.T>, advanced in the next round of
the tender to build new nuclear reactors for CEZ <CEZPsp.PR>,
the largest Czech procurement deal ever. The paper cited an
unnamed source close to CEZ.
                                
 Hospodarske Noviny, page 1
 
                                
 
                                
 Reuters has not verified the media reports, nor does it
vouch for their accuracy.
                                
    
 For Instant Views of key economic data click on    [CZ/INSTANT]
 For summary of economic data and forecasts          <CZ/ECON01>
 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         <G7TODAY>

 For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets:
 Warsaw WIG20 <.WIG20>  Budapest BUX <.BUX>  Prague PX <.PX>

                                
 News editor of the day: Jan Lopatka on +420 224 190 474;
fax: +420 224 229 935
                                
(Reporting by Jana Mlcochova)
                                
 E-mail: prague.newsroom@reuters.com