CEE MARKETS 1-FX flat, risk appetite wanes, eyes on Hungary

                                
 BUDAPEST, July 22 (Reuters) - Emerging European currencies
were little changed in early trade on Thursday following gains
in the previous session, as global risk appetite receded
somewhat and markets kept a watchful eye on Hungary.
                                
 After bearish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman
Ben Bernanke saying the outlook for the U.S. economy was
unusually uncertain, risk appetite turned south and regional
currencies stopped their recent rise.
                                
 The Hungarian forint <EURHUF=>, which took a beating at the
start of the week after the government walked away from talks
about its aid deal with the IMF and EU, but it rose more than 1
percent on Wednesday. It gained less than 0.1 percent higher
against the euro by 0712 GMT.
                                
 The Polish zloty <EURPLN=> also rose 0.1 percent. The Czech
crown <EURCZK=> was flat, while the Romanian leu <EURRON=>
dipped 0.1 percent.
                                
 Dealers said the forint would probably trade in a range of
285-288 against the euro on Thursday.
                                
 The Hungarian parliament is expected to vote in the
afternoon on a key budget bill that includes measures like a
special tax on banks and a salary cap imposed on public
institutions, including the central bank.
                                
 Hungary's government spooked markets at the weekend after
the country's international lenders suspended a review of the
country's 20 billion euro loan agreement. [ID:nLDE66I054]
                                
 The suspension of the review of the country's 20 billion
euro IMF/EU loan agreement is the second time in a month that
the new government has spooked markets, already concerned by
poor growth and Hungary's substantial debt burden.
[ID:nLDE66I054]
                                
 "There are no clear trends developing in the markets,"
Danske Bank said in a morning note. "However, the Hungarian
issue still has the potential to disrupt the summer calm once
again."
                                
 "Hungary will remain in the focus today as the parliament
will vote about the strongly debated bank tax. Although EUR/HUF
came off the highs in the last few trading sessions we believe
potential (negative) IMF/EU comments after the vote could still
see the cross spiking," UniCredit said in a note.
                                
 Other than Hungary, core markets were likely to dictate the
mood, analysts said. The zloty, in particular, was seen
range-bound.
                                
 "In the nearest future the EUR/PLN exchange rate will be
determined by global factors connected with stress tests at
European banks," BRE Bank analysts wrote in a note to clients.
--------------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT--------------------
Currency                    Latest   Previous Local    Local
                                
                                  close    currency currency
                                
                                           change   change
                                
                                           today    in 2010 
Czech crown      <EURCZK=>  25.268   25.269   0%       +4.16%
Polish zloty     <EURPLN=>   4.105    4.108  +0.07%    -0.02%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=>  285.18    285.4  +0.08%    -5.2%
Croatian kuna    <EURHRK=>   7.236    7.236   0%       +1.01%
Romanian leu     <EURRON=>   4.267    4.263  -0.09%    -0.69%
Serbian dinar    <EURRSD=>  105.03      105  -0.03%    -8.71%
All data taken from Reuters at 0912 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 [EMRG]
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 [CEN]  Economic Data Guide <ECONGUIDE> 
Official rates [GLOBAL/INT]  Emerging Diary [EMRG/DIARY] 
Top events [M/DIARY]  Diaries [DIARY] Diaries Index [IND/DIARY] 
  (Reporting by Reuters bureaux, writing by Marton Dunai;
editing by Patrick Graham)