* Zloty, forint rebound; Hungary debt sells well
* Hungary's, Romania's GDP data showed bigger Q2 contraction
* Czech retail sales soft before Q2 GDP release
(Adds Hungary auctions, more stocks)
WARSAW/PRAGUE, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Hungary's forint and
Poland's zloty jumped on Thursday, with a surge in global
equities markets and better-than-expected euro zone growth data
outweighing disappointing GDP figures from the region.
Growth data from Hungary and Romania showed
bigger-than-expected contractions in gross domestic product in
the second quarter of 7.6 percent and 8.8 percent, while Czech
retail sales also showed signs of a slowing domestic economy.
But the data, which many analysts say may point to the
bottom of the region's economic slide, failed to temper investor
demand for Hungarian bonds on Thursday as the IMF-aided country
sold 15-year paper for the first time in a year. []
Hungarian yields were stronger on the day but little changed
after the sale of 50 billion forints worth of 3-, 5-, and
15-year bonds, while the forint <EURHUF=> bid 1.2 percent higher
against the euro at 268.43 by 1106 GMT.
"Bids have not been very aggressive but the market as a
whole remains on the buying side," one trader said.
"The GDP did not cause a scare, although it's a very
important macro figure ... but this has been the pattern in the
past three months: bad figures did not really count."
The zloty <EURPLN=> was up 0.9 percent against the euro at
4.117. The Czech crown <EURCZK=> was up 0.3 percent, and
Romania's leu <EURRON=> was virtually flat.
The zloty resumed its rally after a pause of several days.
In July alone, the currency gained almost 7 percent against the
euro and is expected to rise further and outperform peers.
"We are quite optimistic especially for the zloty as Polish
economic growth is likely to be the highest in the region and
the currency should clearly outperform in the mid-term," said
Lutz Karpowitz, FX strategist at Commerzbank.
Some analysts also say the zloty should look attractive
relative to the forint if the recovery of the global economy
proves slower than previously expected.
STOCKS GAME
Currencies' return to firming following profit taking from a
summer rally this week was driven by stronger equities, with
Prague's PX <> leading gains by rising more than 4 percent.
Markets shook off sliding profit at emerging Europe's No.2
lender Raiffeisen International <RIBH.VI>, which became the
latest bank to report rising bad debt. []
"Equity markets are still the main drivers and they
mostly rebounded on Wednesday, boosting currencies," Karpowitz
said. "Additional support came from the German GDP data, which
were much better than expected."
Germany and France surprisingly posted 0.3 percent growth in
the second quarter. []
But the Hungarian and Romanian growth data indicated central
and eastern Europe was still lagging in any recovery, and a
worse than expected fall in Czech retail sales in June showed
the extent of the recession's grip on households.
Czech second quarter GDP data is due out on Friday, while
Poland's data is due out on August 28.
Poland's statistics office releases inflation data at 1200
GMT, and Polish bonds were stronger ahead of the release, with
expectations growing still high price growth will put a pause on
Poland's monetary easing.
--------------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT--------------------
Currency Latest Previous Local Local
close currency currency
change change
today in 2009
Czech crown <EURCZK=> 25.739 25.821 +0.32% +3.94%
Polish zloty <EURPLN=> 4.117 4.153 +0.87% -0.05%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=> 268.43 271.52 +1.15% -1.82%
Croatian kuna <EURHRK=> 7.318 7.32 +0.03% +0.64%
Romanian leu <EURRON=> 4.215 4.212 -0.07% -4.76%
Serbian dinar <EURRSD=> 93.22 93.436 +0.23% -4.01%
Yield Spreads
Czech treasury bonds <0#CZBMK=>
2-yr T-bond CZ2YT=RR +6 basis points to 55bps over bmk*
4-yr T-bond CZ4YT=RR +9 basis points to +116bps over bmk*
8-yr T-bond CZ8YT=RR +7 basis points to +246bps over bmk*
Polish treasury bonds <0#PLBMK=>
2-yr T-bond PL2YT=RR -7 basis points to +339bps over bmk*
5-yr T-bond PL5YT=RR -5 basis points to +292bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond PL10YT=RR -6 basis points to +259bps over bmk*
Hungarian treasury bonds <0#HUBMK=>
3-yr T-bond HU3YT=RR -15 basis points to +663bps over bmk*
5-yr T-bond HU5YT=RR -16 basis points to +592bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond HU10YT=RR -17 basis points to +505bps over bmk*
*Benchmark is German bond equivalent.
All data taken from Reuters at 1307 CET.
Currency percent change calculated from the daily domestic
close at 1500 GMT.
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(Reporting by Reuters bureaus, writing by Dagmara
Leszkowicz/Jason Hovet; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
