BUDAPEST, June 25 (Reuters) - Central European currencies
were broadly steady on Friday morning after Thursday's falls on
rising risk aversion, with Romanian markets waiting for a court
ruling over austerity measures, seen as key to keeping foreign
aid flowing.
Romania's leu <EURRON=> was flat in early trade ahead of the
expected announcement.
Analysts expect the Constitutional Court to back the planned
cuts of 25 percent in public sector salaries and 15 percent in
pensions, which would clear the way for resumption of IMF-led
loans and probably give a small lift to asset prices.
If the cuts are ruled illegal it would further increase
financing risks for a country which is already struggling to
sell debt and likely send the leu lower. []
Other currencies also moved little in early trade at 0726
GMT, with the forint <EURHUF=> and the zloty <EURPLN=> up 0.1
percent, and the Czech crown <EURCZK=> steady.
"EUR/PLN is oscillating around 4.1140 at Friday's opening,"
leading bank Pekao SA said in its morning note to clients.
"After a significant worsening of the sentiment yesterday to
which the zloty strongly reacted, there is a chance for zloty
gains today."
BPH bank said it expected the zloty to trade around 4.10
against the common currency on Friday.
Dealers in Budapest said the forint could move in relatively
wide ranges, tracking global sentiment and the euro/yen and
euro/dollar crosses.
"I expect volatile trade today, with the forint moving
between 281 and 286 to the euro," a Budapest based dealer said.
Central European assets fell on Thursday as the euro and
peripheral euro zone borrowers remained under pressure,
increasing risk aversion in the world, while concerns over
budgets weighed on Hungarian and Romanian debt auctions.
Hungary cut the value of its 12-month Treasury bill auction
on Thursday due to low demand, and yields at the sale rose.
[]
The forint got an additional hit from the Swiss franc's side
<CHFHUF=>, reaching 15-month lows at 209.50 and triggering
concerns over the sizeable amount of Swiss franc loans held by
Hungarian households.
Unicredit said in a daily note on Friday that while the weak
bill auction in Hungary was negative news but not a particular
reason for concern, the Swiss franc's firming was a factor to
watch closely.
"(The bill auction was) not dramatic but the second time in
a row this has sent a clear negative reaction to investors,"
Unicredit said.
"However, we are not overly worried about the potential
demand for t-bills as the banking sector is still over liquid.
On the other hand we are particularly worried about the current
CHF/HUF level which hit a year-to-date high yesterday and was
only 2 percent below last years all time highs," the bank said.
--------------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT--------------------
Currency Latest Previous Local Local
close currency currency
change change
today in 2010
Czech crown <EURCZK=> 25.799 25.79 -0.03% +2.01%
Polish zloty <EURPLN=> 4.112 4.117 +0.12% -0.19%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=> 283.5 283.79 +0.1% -4.64%
Croatian kuna <EURHRK=> 7.194 7.195 +0.01% +1.6%
Romanian leu <EURRON=> 4.236 4.235 -0.02% +0.03%
Serbian dinar <EURRSD=> 103.54 103.42 -0.12% -7.4%
All data taken from Reuters at 0926 CET.
Currency percent change calculated from the daily domestic
close at 1600 GMT.
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(Reporting by Krisztina Than; editing by Patrick Graham)
