* FX weaker before G20; crown, forint lead drop
* Leu off low but politics keep pressure
PRAGUE, Oct 22 (Reuters) - The Czech crown dropped to a
five-week low on Friday and the Hungarian forint lost previous
gains as investors backed off positions in emerging Europe
before a G20 meeting.
Shares in Budapest <> lost more than a percent on some
profit-taking after hitting a five-month peak during the week,
taking some support away from the forint and pushing it down 0.3
percent to 275.63 per euro by 0807 GMT.
Prague dealers said a German euro buyer was weakening the
crown, taking it out of the 24.500-24.600 range it had stuck
around this month. It bid 0.2 percent weaker at 24.641 per euro,
off an early low of 24.71.
"We hit the 55-day moving average at 25.660, which defines
the downward trend (for the crown), so if we close above it
today, it could then go back to the 25.00 (per euro)," a Prague
dealer said.
"There were a lot of shorts, which will be closed now."
The crown has been the biggest gainer among central European
currencies this year, backed by a growing economic recovery and
government pledges to rein in the budget.
In Romania, the leu <EURRON=> edged up 0.2 percent,
recovering slightly from a 15-week low. The Polish zloty
<EURPLN=> was steady.
The leu has been dogged by persistent uncertainty over the
government's International Monetary Fund-backed austerity drive.
The fragile coalition government is likely to survive a
no-confidence vote next week, but a widely expected slim
parliamentary backing would mean the government would need to
struggle to implement austerity measures.
An IMF mission is in Bucharest to review Romania's progress
in meeting conditions of its 20 billion euros aid package.
Markets were also keeping an eye on the meeting of Group of
20 finance and central bank chiefs in South Korea that aims to
find common on currency, trade and macroeconomic imbalances
ahead of a leadership meeting in Seoul next month.
[]
Emerging markets have benefitted from a weaker dollar that
investors have used to buy riskier assets.
"I wouldn't read too much in today's market moves," said
Cheuvreux analyst Simon Quijano-Evans.
"For emerging markets in general (what is important) is to
see what will come out of the meeting with regard to the
euro/dollar, and that will have direct implications for the
currencies in the region."
--------------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT--------------------
Currency Latest Previous Local Local
close currency currency
change change
today in 2010
Czech crown <EURCZK=> 24.641 24.593 -0.19% +6.81%
Polish zloty <EURPLN=> 3.97 3.969 -0.03% +3.38%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=> 275.63 274.7 -0.34% -1.92%
Croatian kuna <EURHRK=> 7.334 7.337 +0.04% -0.34%
Romanian leu <EURRON=> 4.317 4.324 +0.16% -1.84%
Serbian dinar <EURRSD=> 106.27 106.27 0% -9.78%
All data taken from Reuters at 1009 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 Patrick Graham)
