CEE MARKETS 3-Currencies slip in calmer trade

                                
 PRAGUE, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Central European currencies
slipped against the euro on Monday, giving up some gains from
last week in a calmer market, but with investors still edgy
about the global financial crisis' impact on regional economies.
                                
 The year-long crisis spread into the region in the past
month, battering markets and raising volatility, and on Monday
Serbia followed Hungary in seeking help from the International
Monetary Fund by negotiating a possible standby deal to draw
cash from the fund [ID:nL3453787].
                                
 Serbia's dinar <EURRSD=> held steady on the news, and after
the central bank raised its key policy rate by two percentage
points to 17.75 percent on Friday. 
                                
 Elsewhere, Hungary's forint <EURHUF=> was 2 percent lower
versus the euro at 261.6 by 1559 GMT in thin trade. 
                                
 The Czech crown <EURCZK=> slipped 0.9 percent to 24.25,
Romania's leu <EURRON=> lost 0.9 to 3.68, and Poland's zloty
<EURPLN=> fell 0.5 percent to 3.55.
                                
 "Markets have calmed a little bit," said Lubos Kolarik, a
trader with Komercni Banka in Prague, adding falls were a
correction after strong gains at the end of last week.
                                
 The outlook for Czech and Polish manufacturing plunged
further last month as central European economies suffer from
slumping demand in western markets, surveys showed on Monday
[ID:nL3590223], which raised prospects of interest rate cuts.
                                
 "The question is what the financial crisis will do to the
real economy," a Prague fixed-income dealer said.
                                
 The European Commission slashed the region's economic growth
forecasts on Monday, but Polish and Czech growth in 2009 should
remain healthy relative to the euro zone, while Hungary is seen
eking out a 0.7 percent gain next year [ID:nL3661542].
                                
 Poland's central bank is expected to keep rates flat until
the new year. The Czechs first eased rates in August, and are
seen cutting again on Nov. 6, coinciding with a 50 basis point
cut expected from the European Central Bank on the same day.
                                
 "There is still a lot of uncertainty ahead of the ECB
decision, so there's some nervousness (around currencies)
there," said Jon Harrison, currency strategist with Dresdner
Kleinwort.
                                
 Central European markets were smacked last month as the
year-long financial crisis spilled over into the region, pushing
Hungary to seek aid from the International Monetary Fund and
European Union to ease concerns over its external financing.
                                
 The $25.1 billion Hungary-IMF/EU deal calmed some nerves,
pushing the forint, which had lost around 15 percent of its
value at one point in October, up 4.2 percent in the past week.
                                
 The zloty has gained 2.3 percent in the past week, while the
crown is up 2.5 percent and the leu has gained 7 percent.
                                
 In other trade, Croatia's kuna inched up to 7.15 per euro,
and analysts said a high interest rate differential with the
euro zone could keep it attractive to investors.
                                
 Activity in central European government bonds remained thin,
and Hungary's central bank bought fewer bonds than it planned at
an auction on Monday [ID:nL3508405].
                                
 The central bank started buying back government bonds two
weeks ago as part of its measures to revive frozen debt markets.

----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT-------------------------
Currency                    Latest   Previous Local    Local
                                
                                  close    currency currency
                                
                                           change   change
                                
                                           today    in 2008 
Czech crown      <EURCZK=>   24.251   24.035  -0.90%   +8.48%
Polish zloty     <EURPLN=>    3.551    3.533  -0.49%   +1.37%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=>  261.600  256.350  -2.05%   -3.46%
Croatian kuna    <EURHRK=>    7.158    7.165  +0.11%   +2.30%
Romanian leu     <EURRON=>    3.675    3.643  -0.88%   -2.65%
Serbian dinar    <EURRSD=>   84.527   84.547  +0.02%   -7.32%
Yield Spreads
Czech treasury bonds <0#CZBMK=>
3-yr T-bond   CZ3YT=RR    -34 basis points to  161bps over bmk*
5-yr T-bond   CZ5YT=RR    -3 basis points to  +158bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond   CZ9YT=RR   +15 basis points to  +125bps over bmk*
Polish treasury bonds <0#PLBMK=>
2-yr T-bond   PL2YT=RR   +6 basis points to  +435bps over bmk*
5-yr T-bond   PL5YT=RR   +4 basis points to  +353bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond PL10YT=RR   +12 basis points to  +273bps over bmk*
Hungarian treasury bonds <0#HUBMK=>
3-yr T-bond   HU3YT=RR   +55 basis points to  +1026bps over bmk*
5-yr T-bond   HU5YT=RR   +43 basis points to  +949bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond   HU10YT=RR +7 basis points to  +608bps over bmk*
*Benchmark is German bond equivalent.
All data taken from Reuters at 1659 CET.
Currency percent change calculated from the daily domestic 
close at 1500 GMT.
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 (Reporting by Reuters bureaus, writing by Jason Hovet)