Slovak crown hits 1-mth peak on strong GDP, repo

    The Slovak crown jumped 0.8 
percent to a one-month high against the euro on Tuesday, fuelled 
by stronger-than-expected economic growth and the outcome of the 
central bank's (NBS) repo tender, dealers said. 
    The currency traded at 34.400 per euro  at 1500 
GMT, slightly weaker from 34.335, the strongest level since Jan. 
9, that it hit earlier in the session. 
    The crown traded at 34.670 late on Monday. 
    "Both foreign banks and clients sold euros quite massively," 
said Tatra Banka dealer Boris Somorovsky. "There were two 
factors behind it -- better-than-expected GDP growth and 
acceptance of all bids in the repo tender." 
    The Slovak economy grew by 9.5 percent in the fourth 
quarter, preliminary data showed on Tuesday, confirming it as 
one of the world's fastest growing economies. 
    The figure was in line with central bank forecasts but well 
above analysts predictions of 8.1 percent growth. Slovak GDP 
rose by a record 9.8 percent in the third quarter of 2006. 
    The NBS accepted all bids in the two-week repo tender 
draining excess liquidity from the market on Tuesday, after 
rejecting part of the bids last week to cap the crown rise. 
    Dealers said a further impetus for the crown would come from 
neighbouring markets in central Europe. 
    "It seems we are close to the bottom if the Polish zloty and 
Hungarian forint do not go significantly stronger," said Andrej 
Zeman, a trader at ING Bank in Bratislava. "I expect a range of 
34.300-34.600 in the (coming) week." 
------------------ MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 1500 GMT ----------------- 
Crown/euro  34.400 vs 34.670 on Monday (+0.8 pct) 
Crown/dollar   26.402 vs 26.751 (+1.32 pct) 
5-yr govt bond  yield 4.320/4.100 vs 4.295/4.090 pct 
7-yr govt bond  yield 4.375/155 vs 4.350/150 pct 
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[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]