* Currencies broadly unchanged or slightly stronger
* Polish zloty has room to firm on EU fund conversion
* Hungarian bonds ease slightly in profit-taking
By Balazs Koranyi and Gergely Szakacs
(Updates prices, adds new comments, bonds)
BUDAPEST, May 8 (Reuters) - Central Europe's currencies
traded broadly unchanged or a shade stronger on Friday, taking a
breather after Thursday's big rally and traders said no major
moves were expected ahead of the weekend.
Poland's zloty <EURPLN=> led minor gains in the region,
rising 0.4 percent versus the euro, and the currency was bound
to receive further support from the finance ministry's comments
on European Union funds.
"We're not ruling out to use such operations (to exchange EU
funds via market)," Deputy Finance Minister Dominik Radziwill
told Reuters.
Hungary's forint <EURHUF=>, which has gained almost 15
percent since hitting an all-time-low in March, was slightly
weaker, down 0.06 percent to the euro after scaling a 4-month
high on Thursday.
"Everything is a tad higher but the market is quiet after
yesterday's big move and high turnover," a Budapest-based
currency dealer said.
Another dealer said there was no clear direction for the
forint on Friday and he expected range trading in the session.
Hungary's central bank will release the minutes of its April
rate meeting at 1200 GMT, where it left rates unchanged, but
analysts said the document lacks much significance as the forint
has firmed and the new government has taken swift action since.
Romania's leu <EURRON=> was also marginally stronger while
the Czech crown was a touch weaker as the domestic market in
Prague was closed due to a public holiday.
The leu was seen having room to gain after bullish comments
from the central bank on Thursday that "speculative" pressure on
the currency had already peaked.
"The (local) market seems dominated by a positive touch
after yesterday's (Thursday) news conference held by the
governor," one dealer said.
The Romanian central bank cut its inflation forecasts for
this year and next on Thursday, as the economy showed signs of
contracting fast due to global turmoil, but said room for new
interest rate cuts was limited. []
Hungarian bond yields ticked 5-10 basis points higher in a
round of profit taking after falling by about 30 basis points
across the curve on Thursday.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT-------------------------
Currency Latest Previous Local Local
close currency currency
change change
today in 2009
Czech crown <EURCZK=> 26.625 26.58 -0.17% +0.48%
Polish zloty <EURPLN=> 4.348 4.367 +0.44% -5.36%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=> 278.56 278.4 -0.06% -5.39%
Croatian kuna <EURHRK=> 7.361 7.358 -0.04% +0.05%
Romanian leu <EURRON=> 4.128 4.131 +0.07% -2.75%
Serbian dinar <EURRSD=> 94.279 94.78 +0.53% -5.09%
Yield Spreads
Czech treasury bonds <0#CZBMK=>
2-yr T-bond CZ2YT=RR +3 basis points to 159bps over bmk*
4-yr T-bond CZ4YT=RR -4 basis points to +180bps over bmk*
8-yr T-bond CZ8YT=RR -4 basis points to +275bps over bmk*
Polish treasury bonds <0#PLBMK=>
2-yr T-bond PL2YT=RR -2 basis points to +424bps over bmk*
5-yr T-bond PL5YT=RR -6 basis points to +329bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond PL10YT=RR -7 basis points to +282bps over bmk*
Hungarian treasury bonds <0#HUBMK=>
3-yr T-bond HU3YT=RR -26 basis points to +835bps over bmk*
5-yr T-bond HU5YT=RR -64 basis points to +759bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond HU10YT=RR -53 basis points to +651bps over bmk*
*Benchmark is German bond equivalent.
All data taken from Reuters at 1048 CET.
Currency percent change calculated from the daily domestic
close at 1600 GMT.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus, writing by Balazs Koranyi and
Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Andy Bruce)
