CEE MARKETS-Zloty holds near 10-month high, forint firms

Moneta Money Bank, A.s

27/04/2023 09:57

By Boldizsar  Gyori
       BUDAPEST, April 27 (Reuters) - The Polish zloty stuck
near a 10-month peak on Thursday as U.S. dollar weakness boosted
appetite for central Europe's currencies, while Hungary's forint
edged closer to a one-year high it fell from last week.
    The zloty took in its stride news of a "military object"
found in a forest in northern Poland, which has been on alert
for possible spillover from the war in its neighbour Ukraine
following Russia's invasion.
    The Polish currency has been the best performer in the
region in recent weeks after it lagged peers earlier this year.
Fading rate cut expectations and a weaker dollar have helped.
    The zloty  EURPLN=  was down 0.1% at 4.589 to the euro at
0831 GMT, not far from 4.576, its strongest level since June
2022 which it hit in the previous session. 
    "The Polish zloty continues its two-week rally and should
continue its trajectory ..., We think there is still plenty of
room for a rally," ING said. 
    ING expects growing interest in the Czech crown and Polish
zloty as markets continue to unwind some of the risk premium
built up in the zloty in the first quarter, when the Polish
currency trailed peers in central Europe.  
    The Czech crown  EURCZK=  traded at 23.48 against the euro
at 0747 GMT, some way from a 15-year high of 23.233 reached
earlier this month.
    On stock markets, Czech lender MONETA Money Bank  MONET.PR 
posted a less-than-expected 6% year-on-year drop in net profit
in the first quarter as it showed a net release of bad loan
provisions. Its shares were up 0.6% in morning trade.
    In Hungary, state-owned Eximbank has issued a 5-year
dollar-denominated benchmark bond worth $1.25 billion, with the
yield reaching 6.32%. 
    The forint  EURHUF=  had risen 0.2% by mid-morning to trade
at 373.05 against the euro. 
    After retreating from a peak of 369.60 last week when the
central bank flagged it would narrow its rate corridor with a
cut to the top rate - which it did on Tuesday - the forint is
slowly edging back towards stronger levels again. 
    "The single factor supporting the forint right now is the
18% quick-deposit rate, which allows traders to play the carry
trade during the long weekend that is ahead of us," a
Budapest-based FX trader said. 
    "With the forint nearing 372, traders will open positions
more cautiously as sudden bad news might easily swing back the
forint to levels where the 18% quick-deposit rate doesn't yield
enough," the trader added.
    
                   CEE      SNAPSHO   AT                      
                   MARKETS  T        1031              
                                     CET               
                            CURRENC                           
                            IES                        
                            Latest   Previou  Daily    Change
                                     s                 
                            bid      close    change   in 2023
 EURCZK  Czech                                       
 EURHUF  Hungary                0        0           
 EURPLN  Polish                                      
 EURRON  Romanian                                    
 EURRSD  Serbian                0        0           
         Note:     calculated from            1800            
         daily                                CET      
         change                                        
                                                              
                            Latest   Previou  Daily    Change
                                     s                 
                                     close    change   in 2023
 .PX     Prague     .PX     1415.94  1409.37   +0.47%   +17.83
                                          00                 %
 .BUX    Budapest   .BUX    43791.6  43367.5   +0.98%   -0.00%
                                  8        2           
 .WIG20  Warsaw    <.WIG20  1915.39  1888.61   +1.42%   +6.89%
                   >                                   
 .BETI   Buchares   .BETI   12395.2  12380.1   +0.12%   +6.27%
         t                        5        7           
 .SBITO  Ljubljan  <.SBITO  1237.13  1238.05   -0.07%   +17.96
 P       a         P>                                        %
 .BELEX  Belgrade  <.BELEX   902.49   903.82   -0.15%   +9.44%
 15                15>                                 
 .SOFIX  Sofia     <.SOFIX   611.30   609.40   +0.31%   +1.63%
                   >                                   
                                                              
                            Yield    Yield    Spread   Daily
                            (bid)    change   vs Bund  change
                                                       in
         Czech                                         spread
         Republic                                      
 CZ2YT=    2-year                                s  
 CZ5YT=    5-year                                s  
 CZ10YT                                         s  
         Poland                                               
 PL2YT=    2-year                                s  
 PL5YT=    5-year                                s  
 PL10YT                                         s  
                   FORWARD                                    
                            3x6      6x9      9x12     3M
                                                       interba
                                                       nk
         Czech                                      
         Hungary                                     
         Poland                                      
         Note:     are for ask                                
         FRA       prices                              
         quotes                                        
         ********************************************         
         ******************                            
                                                              
 
 (Reporting by Boldizsar Gyori in Budapest
Editing by Mark Potter)
 ((boldizsar.gyori@thomsonreuters.com))
 
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