* FX mostly lower, leu falls more after weak debt sale
* Stocks up, debt tenders still in focus
PRAGUE, July 13 (Reuters) - Emerging European currencies
mostly inched lower on Tuesday, with the Hungarian forint down
before a 3-month Treasury bill auction and Romania's leu leading
losses after it reportedly forecast a larger economic
contraction in 2010.
The forint <EURHUF=> slipped 0.1 percent to 278.6 to the
euro, while Romania's leu <EURRON=> dipped 0.3 percent after a
report the Romanian economy will contract more than 1.5 percent
this year due to a rise in value-added tax (VAT).
[]
The Czech crown <EURCZK=> hovered around a three-month high,
up 0.2 percent on the day at 25.3 to the euro by 0725 GMT.
The Polish zloty <EURPLN=> fell 0.1 percent before CPI data
in the afternoon. Some analysts say Polish interest rates may
rise this year, while price data across the region still shows
central banks under no pressure to raise rates. []
Hungarian inflation was up more than expected in June.
Analysts said that high inflation cuts room for any rate
reductions but that the economy was still too weak to warrant a
rise in interest rates. []
"The central bank has become more hesitant to continue its
easing cycle also from an inflationary point of view," Gyorgy
Barta of Central European Internation Bank said.
"In the current market environment, rates on hold next week
seem to be a more probable monetary policy option in any case."
The forint has lost 3.3 percent since May.
Stocks rebounded with up to half a percent rise, led by
Budapest <> and Prague <>.
Hungary will offer 45 billion forints worth of three-month
Treasury bills at an auction, with results due at 0930 GMT.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) continues its review
of Hungary's fiscal performance this week, the first since the
new centre-right government took power in May.
Investors are keen to see if the government gets the IMF's
blessing for its handling of the economy, while the country has
had little trouble selling its debt in the past month.
In Romania, another IMF loan recipient, the government
struggled again to drum up interest in its debt, selling only a
fraction of what it had planned on Monday. []
The average yield rose to 6.99 percent, and indicated yields
could break a self-imposed cap of 7 percent, analysts said.
Investors in Europe were also cautious ahead of Greece's
return to markets for the first time since April.
That could prove to be a litmus test for the euro, central
Europe's reference currency, in the short term ahead of the
results of the euro zone banks' stress tests next week.
"The stress test in Europe has investors on hot coals and
some of them are closing in the region," a Bucharest dealer
said.
--------------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT--------------------
Currency Latest Previous Local Local
close currency currency
change change
today in 2010
Czech crown <EURCZK=> 25.305 25.35 +0.18% +4%
Polish zloty <EURPLN=> 4.072 4.07 -0.05% +0.79%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=> 278.6 278.27 -0.12% -2.96%
Croatian kuna <EURHRK=> 7.21 7.215 +0.07% +1.38%
Romanian leu <EURRON=> 4.256 4.245 -0.26% -0.44%
Serbian dinar <EURRSD=> 104.06 103.97 -0.09% -7.86%
All data taken from Reuters at 0926 CET.
Currency percent change calculated from the daily domestic
close at 1600 GMT.
For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets: All
emerging market news []
Spot FX rates
Eastern Europe spot FX <EEFX=> Middle East spot FX <MEFX=>
Asia spot FX <ASIAFX=> Latin America spot FX <LATAMFX=>
Other news and reports
World central bank news [] Economic Data Guide <ECONGUIDE>
Official rates [] Emerging Diary []
Top events [] Diaries [] Diaries Index []
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus, writing by Jason Hovet)
