CEE MARKETS 3-Polish markets steady after plane crash, forint up

                                
 * Zloty steady, bourse up after top officials killed
                                
 * Questions surround Polish central bank intervention
                                
 * Forint up, bond yields at lows after Fidesz election win
                                
 
 (Adds detail, quotes, updates prices)
                                
 By Jason Hovet and Marius Zaharia
                                
 PRAGUE/BUCHAREST, 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 outperformed peers and bond yields
dropped more than 20 basis points, their biggest daily fall in
eight months, after Sunday's first round of elections brought a
sweeping victory for centre-right Fidesz party. For details, see
[ID:nLDE63A03S]
Hungary's next prime minister, Viktor Orban, said he wants
to cut taxes to revive the economy and cut the budget deficit
once "true budget data for 2010 are known". [ID:nTST000010]
                                
 The weekend events turned more focus on emerging Europe,
where investors have pushed assets to multi-month highs amid
better growth prospects than in the debt-laden euro zone
periphery.
                                
 Warsaw's stock index <.WIG20> opened 0.2 percent lower on
Monday before rebounding to trade higher in tandem with other
bourses in the region, and hovered near 19-month highs.
                                
 Sofia's bourse <.SOFIX> rose 0.5 percent, resilient to
Bulgaria's government announcement on Friday that it delayed
ERM-2 entry plans because of a hidden budget deficit. The news
hit central European assets last week, particularly Romania's
leu and Bulgarian CDS spreads [ID:nLDE6381SC].
                                
 Markets got a lift from euro zone finance ministers'
approval of a 30 billion euro ($40 billion) emergency aid
mechanism for debt-plagued Greece, calming investors and sending
the euro -- central Europe's reference currency -- temporarily
to a one-month high versus the dollar. [ID:nTOE63B05P]
                                
 But the zloty <EURPLN=> and other central European
currencies lagged.
                                
 The Polish unit inched 0.2 percent up against the euro to
bid at 3.862 by 1323 GMT, after hitting a two-week low earlier
following the central bank's first intervention in 10 years on
Friday to knock the unit of 16-month highs.
                                
 Polish bond markets stayed quiet, while Czech bonds
continued a two-month rally on lower supply, with the 10-year
yield touching a fresh three-year low.
                                
 Analysts expect Poland's financial markets to 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]
                                
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                                
 * For more stories on the Polish crash and its aftermath
please double click on [ID:nLDE639096]
                                
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                                
 "The tragic deaths ... have created uncertainty about the
political situation in Poland and about the monetary policy,"
Danske Bank said in a research note ...
                                
 "Our overall assessment is that the negative impact on the
Polish economy and markets is likely to be small and short-lived
as the Polish government under the leadership of Prime Minister
Tusk continues to function normally."
                                
 Skrzypek was seen as the driving force behind last Friday's
intervention. Analysts say central bank policy should stay
unchanged, at least until a new bank chief is chosen in the
coming weeks, and that the zloty's torrid strengthening this
year would likely cool. [ID:nLDE63A09N] [ID:nWSF008925]
                                
 
                                
 FIDESZ GETS STRONG MANDATE
                                
 Hungary's forint rose 0.7 percent to 264.62 to the euro and
stocks <.BUX> lost some ground after hitting their highest since
the start of 2008 earlier in the session.
                                
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                                
 * For a Take A Look on the Hungarian election please double
click on [ID:nLDE63107B

                                
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                                
 Bonds also firmed but mainly on the Greek news, dealers
said. The 5-year yield dropped below 6 percent for the first
time since September 2005, while 10-year yields were at the
lowest since September 2007. Bond yields have fallen 140-165
basis points across the curve since the start of the year.
                                
 Dealers said lower supply and a strong election outcome was
also positive for the debt market. [ID:nLDE62U1OZ]
                                
 "Markets have welcomed Fidesz's landslide victory," Capital
Economics said. "But with a distinct lack of policy detail from
the party so far, we remain only cautiously optimistic that its
huge majority will translate into decisive action to tackle
Hungary's underlying fiscal frailties."
                                
 The second round of elections is scheduled on April 25.
--------------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT--------------------
Currency                    Latest   Previous Local    Local
                                
                                  close    currency currency
                                
                                           change   change
                                
                                           today    in 2010 
Czech crown      <EURCZK=>  25.17    25.191  +0.08%   +4.56%
Polish zloty     <EURPLN=>   3.862    3.87   +0.21%   +6.27%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=> 264.62   266.58   +0.74%   +2.17%
Croatian kuna    <EURHRK=>   7.265    7.27   +0.07%   +0.61%
Romanian leu     <EURRON=>   4.124    4.13   +0.15%   +2.75%
Serbian dinar    <EURRSD=>  99.54    99.62   +0.08%   -3.68%
Yield Spreads
Czech treasury bonds <0#CZBMK=>
3-yr T-bond   CZ3YT=RR   +3 basis points to  68bps over bmk*
7-yr T-bond   CZ7YT=RR    -6 basis points to  +75bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond   CZ10YT=RR    0 basis points to  +75bps over bmk*

Polish treasury bonds <0#PLBMK=>
2-yr T-bond   PL2YT=RR    -3 basis points to  +346bps over bmk*
5-yr T-bond   PL5YT=RR    -3 basis points to  +292bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond PL10YT=RR    -3 basis points to  +230bps over bmk*

Hungarian treasury bonds <0#HUBMK=>
3-yr T-bond   HU3YT=RR    -27 basis points to  +433bps over bmk*
5-yr T-bond   HU5YT=RR    -29 basis points to  +370bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond   HU10YT=RR  -22 basis points to  +342bps over bmk*
*Benchmark is German bond equivalent.
All data taken from Reuters at 1623 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 and
Marius Zaharia; Editing by ...)