CEE MARKETS 3-Forint holds post-election gains after cbank

                                
 * Forint holds post-election gains after cbank cut
                                
 * Stocks throw support behind other FX
                                
 * Greece, intervention worries weigh
                                
 
                                
 (Updates Hungary cbank, prices)
                                
 By Dagmara Leszkowicz and Jason Hovet
                                
 WARSAW/PRAGUE, April 26 (Reuters) - A landslide Hungarian
election victory for the centre-right Fidesz party gave a lift
to the country's forint and bonds on Monday, as rising stock
markets added support to other central European currencies.
                                
 The forint touched its highest level in eight sessions after
the Sunday run-off vote that gave Fidesz a clear two-thirds
majority in parliament, and was unshaken later on Monday after
the central bank cut interest rates to a new record low of 5.25
percent as expected. [ID:nLDE63P1FR]
                                
 "What happens next is a question of monetary policy as well
as politics," Raiffeisen Bank analyst Zoltan Torok. 
                                
 "I do not believe this was the last rate cut. There will be
at least one more. We think it will come in the third quarter,
but the outlook is very uncertain on that horizon."
                                
 The forint <EURHUF=> added 0.1 percent over Friday's close,
bid at 263.1 to the euro by 1412 GMT. Bond yields held around
multi-year lows hit this month.
                                
 Analysts expected a post-election bounce for Hungarian
assets after Fidesz won the majority needed to launch vital
reforms to get the economy back in gear after the country was
near financial collapse two years ago. 
                                
 But they said the grace period could be short and the new
government's relationship with the central bank would be tense.
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  * For more stories on the Hungarian election, double-click
[ID:nLDE63L1O6]
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 INTERVENTION
                                
 The Budapest bourse <.BUX> also reach a 1-1/2 week high,
rising 2.4 percent with global peers on an improving outlook for
the United States, the world's biggest economy. [ID:nLDE63P0CZ]
                                
 The rise in stocks mostly supported central Europe's
currencies. The Polish zloty <EURPLN=> and Romanian leu
<EURRON=> rose 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent, while the Czech
crown <EURCZK=> underperformed and was flat on the day. 
                                
 Persistent uncertainty over aid for debt-laden Greece also
knocked the euro, weighing on this region. [ID:nLDE63P0LU]
                                
 Greek 5-year credit default swaps (CDS) rose to records
above 600 basis points on Monday. By comparison, Poland's 5-year
CDS stood at around 105 bps, while Hungary's was at 187 basis
points on Monday. [ID:nLDE63P0NZ]
                                
 Dealers said investors have also become wary of possible
intervention in markets. Poland's central bank surprised markets
earlier this month with its first intervention in 10 years to
temper the surging zloty's impact on exports and the economy.
                                
 Emerging EU's better growth outlook and lower debt positions
compared to the euro zone periphery states like Greece have
turned investors' focus to the region more often, putting
currencies, bond and stocks to multi-month highs this year.
                                
 In the past 12 months, the zloty has led currencies with a
15 percent gain, compared to 12 percent for the forint, a 5 rise
in the crown and 3 percent for the leu.
 
--------------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT--------------------
Currency                    Latest   Previous Local    Local
                                
                                  close    currency currency
                                
                                           change   change
                                
                                           today    in 2010 
Czech crown      <EURCZK=>   25.387   25.392  +0.02%   +3.67%
Polish zloty     <EURPLN=>    3.877    3.883  +0.15%   +5.86%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=>  263.13   263.5    +0.14%   +2.74%
Croatian kuna    <EURHRK=>    7.256    7.255  -0.01%   +0.73%
Romanian leu     <EURRON=>    4.11     4.123  +0.32%   +3.1%
Serbian dinar    <EURRSD=>   99.18    99.043  -0.14%   -3.33%
Yield Spreads
Czech treasury bonds <0#CZBMK=>
3-yr T-bond   CZ3YT=RR   +2 basis points to  54bps over bmk*
7-yr T-bond   CZ7YT=RR   +5 basis points to  +66bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond   CZ10YT=RR    -2 basis points to  +63bps over bmk*
All data taken from Reuters at 1513 CET.
Currency percent change calculated from the daily domestic 
close at 1600 GMT.
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  (Reporting by Reuters bureaus, Writing by Dagmara Leszkowicz;
editing by Ron Askew)