* CEE assets under pressure due to Egypt tensions
* Crown backed by expectations CNB may become more hawkish
(Adds fixed income, detail)
WARSAW, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Central European currencies were
mixed on Monday, with market participants closely watching
political developments in Egypt and dealers warning of pressure
on riskier assets if unrest there spreads.
"Egypt will be in focus and key (domestic) figures may come
a bit in the background, at least in CEE region," said Elisabeth
Andreew, FX analyst at Nordea. "This will be a volatile week on
FX markets."
By 0922 GMT Hungary's forint <EURHUF=> fell some 0.2
percent, a touch off its previous sharper losses.
The Polish zloty <EURPLN=> was 0.2 percent higher, while the
Czech crown <EURCZK=> and Romania's leu <EURRON=> each edged up
about 0.1 percent.
The International Monetary Fund is currently in Bucharest
reviewing Romania's 20 billion euro bailout and discussing fresh
agreements. Dealers said a release of the next tranche of funds
and a new deal were widely expected and already priced in.
Romania's finance ministry is expected to release its
domestic debt issuance plan for February on Monday, as is
Poland.
Regional stock markets were all in the red on Monday,
falling by between 0.9 and 1.4 percent.
RATES IN FOCUS
Dealers said the Czech currency could find support from
expectations of a more hawkish view on monetary policy at the
central bank, which announces its interest rate decision on
Thursday.
All analysts polled by Reuters expect the key rate to remain
at a record low of 0.75 percent this week but the bank is seen
raising borrowing costs as early as the second quarter.
The market expects the main rate to be at 1.25 percent in a
year's time []
In Poland, the 10-strong Monetary Policy Council raised
interest rates by a moderate 25 basis points in January and
expectations for a relatively fast tightening have sent the
zloty to multi-month highs in the past days.
However, several policymakers have cast some doubt on this
view, suggesting the MPC may not raise borrowing costs at its
next meeting in March, and the Polish unit has trimmed most of
this year's gains, falling to around 3.95 against the common
currency. []
--------------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT--------------------
Currency Latest Previous Local Local
close currency currency
change change
today in 2011
Czech crown <EURCZK=> 24.261 24.295 +0.14% +3.05%
Polish zloty <EURPLN=> 3.936 3.943 +0.18% +0.56%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=> 273.55 273.05 -0.18% +1.62%
Croatian kuna <EURHRK=> 7.421 7.399 -0.3% -0.55%
Romanian leu <EURRON=> 4.255 4.258 +0.07% -0.52%
Serbian dinar <EURRSD=> 104.44 104.31 -0.12% +1.42%
Yield Spreads
Czech treasury bonds <0#CZBMK=>
2-yr T-bond CZ2YT=RR -3 basis points to 36bps over bmk*
7-yr T-bond CZ7YT=RR -2 basis points to +69bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond CZ9YT=RR +2 basis points to +89bps over bmk*
Polish treasury bonds <0#PLBMK=>
2-yr T-bond PL2YT=RR +1 basis points to +364bps over bmk*
5-yr T-bond PL5YT=RR +3 basis points to +350bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond PL10YT=RR +5 basis points to +323bps over bmk*
The P
*Benchmark is German bond equivalent.
All data taken from Reuters at 1022 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 Dagmara
Leszkowicz; editing by Stephen Nisbet)
