* Czech crown dips after c.bank head says to quit on June 30
* CEE stocks,most currencies retreat on Greece,led by forint
* Prospects remain positive, say dealers and analysts
(Recast with Czech c.bank governor)
By Gergely Szakacs and Dagmara Leszkowicz
BUDAPEST/WARSAW, April 15 (Reuters) - The Czech crown eased
slightly after the country's central bank's head announced on
Thursday he would resign on June 30, while the regions' other
currencies were mixed as rising Greek debt yields and credit
default swap spreads indicated renewed concerns over Greece's
debt.
The market took the news of Governor Zdenek Tuma's departure
calmly.
"There is no reason for any disquiet, any doubts (on the
Czech resignation). I think the market will digest this
announcement very quickly," said Lubos Mokras, analyst at Ceska
Sporitelna.
"Governor (Zdenek) Tuma was due to finish next year anyway,
so this means only an acceleration of what had been planned
before."
Czech President Vaclav Klaus said he believed the central
bank would function normally, but did not say in a statement
whom he would appoint to replace Tuma. []
The crown <EURCZK=>, which touched 7-month highs earlier in
the week, eased after the announcement, hitting a session low of
25.135 to the euro, but later trimmed its losses.
Other currencies were mixed, with Poland's zloty <EURPLN=>
and Romania's leu <EURRON=> remaining relatively flat and
Hungary's forint <EURHUF=> down some 0.3 percent to the common
currency.
The fresh weakening in Greek debt has led to an easing of
the euro <EUR=>, Central Europe's reference unit, relieving the
region's currencies of appreciating pressure in the short-term.
"(It is) Greece," one Budapest-based currency trader said.
"Sentiment has gone bad out of the blue, all stock exchanges
slipped into the red..."
FIRMING TREND
The news flow about the Greek debt crisis has often caused
short-term jitters in the region's markets but has not derailed
their currencies' longer term firming trend.
"I think CEE (Central Europe) will continue outperforming,
albeit at a slower pace. However, I can imagine some short-term
bumps on the way, perhaps if the NBP (Polish central bank)
intervenes again (to weaken the zloty)," said Gunnar Tersman,
analyst at Handelsbanken.
"Greece should not have a negative effect going forward," he
added. "Markets have realised, and will be increasingly
convinced, that CEE is in much better shape than many countries
in Western Europe."
The forint <EURHUF=> has been the region's biggest gainer
this week after a first round of elections on Sunday that
ushered in a strong government led by the centre-right Fidesz
party.
Notes released by some foreign banks after Hungary's
elections showed optimism that the forint may firm to beyond 260
after the second round due on April 25. But some local dealers
said they doubted the unit has much further scope to strengthen.
"I think the forint has already visited its short-term peak
(at 4-week highs on Wednesday)," one dealer said. "It's not a
strong currency that makes the economy more competitive."
Polish data showed inflation in March stood at 2.6 percent
on an annual basis, as forecast. The finance ministry said the
budget gap widened to 22.71 billion zlotys but the data had no
impact for the currency. [], []
-------------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT--------------------
Currency Latest Previous Local Local
close currency currency
change change
today in 2009
Czech crown <EURCZK=> 25.105 25.045 -0.24% +4.83%
Polish zloty <EURPLN=> 3.858 3.862 +0.1% +6.38%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=> 263.13 262.36 -0.29% +2.74%
Croatian kuna <EURHRK=> 7.255 7.256 +0.01% +0.75%
Romanian leu <EURRON=> 4.134 4.136 +0.05% +2.5%
Serbian dinar <EURRSD=> 98.903 99.58 +0.68% -3.06%
Yield Spreads
Czech treasury bonds <0#CZBMK=>
3-yr T-bond CZ3YT=RR +4 basis points to 64bps over bmk*
7-yr T-bond CZ7YT=RR -8 basis points to +58bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond CZ10YT=RR -2 basis points to +51bps over bmk*
Polish treasury bonds <0#PLBMK=>
2-yr T-bond PL2YT=RR +4 basis points to +344bps over bmk*
5-yr T-bond PL5YT=RR +2 basis points to +287bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond PL10YT=RR +2 basis points to +240bps over bmk*
Hungarian treasury bonds <0#HUBMK=>
3-yr T-bond HU3YT=RR +2 basis points to +416bps over bmk*
5-yr T-bond HU5YT=RR +2 basis points to +356bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond HU10YT=RR +2 basis points to +327bps over bmk*
*Benchmark is German bond equivalent.
Currency percent change calculated from the daily domestic All
data taken from Reuters at 1439 CET.
Currency percent change calculated from the daily domestic
close at 1600 GMT.
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(Reporting by Reuters bureaus, Writing by Gergely
Szakacs/Sandor Peto; Editing by Ian Jones)
