CEE MARKETS 1-Polish markets steady after plane crash, forint up

                                
 * Zloty touch lower, bourse up after top officials killed
                                
 * Questions surround Polish c.bank intervention
                                
 * Forint gets boost after clear Fidesz election win
                                
 
                                
 PRAGUE, April 12 (Reuters) - Polish markets held their own
on Monday, showing resilience in the first trading session since
the weekend plane crash that killed the country's president,
central bank governor and other senior officials.
                                
 In Hungary, the forint firmed after Sunday's first round of
elections brought a sweeping victory for the centre-right Fidesz
party, which neared the two-thirds parliamentary majority it
needs to push through vital reforms for the IMF-funded country.
The weekend events turned more focus on emerging Europe,
where investors have pushed assets to multi-month highs this
year amid prospects of better growth than in the debt-laden euro
zone periphery.
                                
 Warsaw's stock index <.WIG20> opened opened 0.2 percent
lower on Monday before rebounding to trade higher in tandem with
other bourses in the region and hovering near 19-month highs hit
this month.
                                
 Euro zone finance ministers approved a 30 billion euro ($40
billion) emergency aid mechanism for debt-plagued Greece on
Sunday, calming markets and sending the euro -- central Europe's
main reference currency -- to a one-month high versus the
dollar. [ID:nTOE63B05P]
                                
 The firmer euro did little to hurt the strength of the
central European currencies.
                                
 The zloty <EURPLN=> slipped 0.1 percent against the euro to
bid at 3.872 by 0731 GMT, and was at a two-week low following
the central bank's first intervention in 10 years on Friday to
cool the unit's more than 6 percent gains this year.
                                
 Analysts expect some retreat but said Poland's financial
markets should remain stable after a government plane crashed in
heavy fog short of the runway near Smolensk, Russia on Saturday,
killing President Lech Kaczynski, central bank governor Slawomir
Skrzypek, other leading politicians and military officials.
[ID:nLDE63B0B2]
                                
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 * For more stories on the Polish crash and its aftermath
please double click on [ID:nLDE639096]
                                
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 "It is a huge tragedy but for the market the key thing now
is the functioning of the financial system and we do not expect
troubles on this front," said Lutz Karpowitz, EMEA FX strategist
at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. "At the moment the zloty is
hovering around 3.87 and I think it is a decent level for now."
                                
 "We do not expect either depreciation or appreciation (of
the zloty), taking into account all the events that has happened
over the weekend," he added.
                                
 
                                
 FIDESZ GETS STRONG MANDATE
                                
 Hungary's forint firmed 0.4 percent to 265.6 to the euro.
                                
 Dealers said the market was still digesting Fidesz's
election win, which had been expected. Investors will watch
closely Fidesz's next moves to get Hungary, among the worst hit
in the economic downturn and a recipient of IMF aid, back to
sustainable economic growth. 
                                
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 * For a Take A Look on the Hungarian election please double
click on [ID:nLDE63107B]
                                
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 "Everyone is trying to assess the situation after the
(election) outcome," a Budapest dealer said.
                                
 "I would not expect major moves today as this outcome was
already (factored) into the market, but taken together with the
rescue package for Greece this may have a mild positive market
impact."
                                
 
--------------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT--------------------
Currency                    Latest   Previous Local    Local
                                
                                  close    currency currency
                                
                                           change   change
                                
                                           today    in 2010 
Czech crown      <EURCZK=>  25.175    25.191  +0.06%   +4.54%
Polish zloty     <EURPLN=>   3.872     3.868  -0.1%    +5.99%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=>  265.61   266.58   +0.37%   +1.78%
Croatian kuna    <EURHRK=>   7.27      7.262  -0.11%   +0.54%
Romanian leu     <EURRON=>   4.133     4.13   -0.07%   +2.53%
Serbian dinar    <EURRSD=>  99.66     99.62   -0.04%   -3.79%
All data taken from Reuters at 0942 CET.
Currency percent change calculated from the daily domestic 
close at 1600 GMT.

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(Reporting by Reuters bureaus, writing by Jason Hovet;
editing by John Stonestreet)