WARSAW, March 18 (Reuters) - Central European currencies
edged higher on Wednesday, led by the Polish zloty and Hungarian
forint, as appetite for riskier emerging assets remained strong
after better than expected U.S. data lifted global stocks.
At 0840 GMT the zloty <EURPLN=> was 0.4 percent up against
the euro to bid at 4.532, while Hungary's forint <EURHUF=> added
0.5 percent to 300.1 per euro.
The Czech crown <EURCZK=> was steady at 26.715, along with
the Romanian leu <EURRON=>.
With gains of 3-4 percent since March 6, currencies have
been on their best run this year, boosted by better global
sentiment due to signs that the banking sector was near a
turning point. But investors booked profits on Tuesday.
"(Better) U.S. housing market data, released in the
afternoon (on Tuesday), has improved sentiment on stock markets
and helped currencies to rebound," said Lukasz Wojtkowiak, FX
analyst at Millennium bank in Warsaw.
Central European stocks gained on Wednesday, with Budapest
BUX <> and Prague's PX <> up more than 1 percent.
However, dealers expected currencies to be rangebound before the
end of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting later in the day.
"I think we can see some stabilisation after the recent
rally," a Prague dealer said. "But we are gaining with the
(falling) dollar and higher stocks still."
The Czech crown has been supported by expectations of stable
interest rates after 200 basis points in cuts since last summer.
Czech central banker Eva Zamrazilova said rates were likely
to remain steady, and that the short-term currency gains were
not a reason to raise them again. []
But investors also cautiously eyed the shaky Czech
government coalition after the main opposition party called a
no-confidence vote for next week. []
Currencies have lost heavily since hitting record highs last
summer as central Europe's export-driven economies have been
hammered by the global slowdown and worries grow about some
countries' reliance on foreign financing.
Easing monetary policies have also accelerated drops that
have cut up to a quarter of currencies' values.
In Poland, markets were cautious about further downward
interest rate moves, with analysts saying industrial output data
due at 1300 GMT may prompt the Monetary Policy Council to cut
rates again.
"If the data are not that bad, the Council may consider
leaving interest rates unchanged and that would be supportive
for the zloty," Wojtkowiak said.
Earlier on Wednesday Polish central banker Andrzej Wojtyna
said interest rates should remain unchanged or be cut by only
another 25 basis points as the weak zloty limits scope for more
monetary easing. []
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT-------------------------
Currency Latest Previous Local Local
close currency currency
change change
today in 2009
Czech crown <EURCZK=> 26.715 26.747 +0.12% +0.14%
Polish zloty <EURPLN=> 4.532 4.552 +0.44% -9.2%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=> 300.11 301.51 +0.47% -12.18%
Croatian kuna <EURHRK=> 7.452 7.441 -0.15% -1.17%
Romanian leu <EURRON=> 4.291 4.288 -0.07% -6.45%
Serbian dinar <EURRSD=> 94.129 94.188 +0.06% -4.94%
All data taken from Reuters at 0943 CET.
Currency percent change calculated from the daily domestic
close at 1600 GMT.
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(Reporting by Reuters bureaus, Writing by Dagmara
Leszkowicz; editing by David Stamp)
