CEE MARKETS-Forint extends losses, rising greenback drags down CEE FX
By Radu-Sorin Marinas and Anita Komuves
BUCHAREST/BUDAPEST, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Central European
currencies softened on Thursday, with Hungary's forint and the
Czech crown leading losses, mirroring other emerging currencies
pushed lower by a strengthening U.S. dollar and dogged by the
economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
On a rollercoaster ride since Wednesday, the forint
traded 0.3% down at 338.2 at 1020 GMT, extending
losses from the last session.
Boosted last week by a surprise hawkish message from the
Hungarian central bank, the forint opened at around 334 on
Wednesday before diving to 337.
The National Bank of Hungary on Wednesday expressed to local
banks its uneasiness with the pace of increase in BUBOR
interbank rates, two market sources told Reuters.
However, the NBH told Reuters it did not currently see
"moves in BUBOR quotations that would be unwarranted by market
developments", and that the meeting was part of regular
consultations with local banks about interbank rates.
A Budapest dealer said the forint weakened as a direct
consequence of the NBH's message, adding that the currency
falling back to its record low of 340 in the near future could
not be ruled out.
"The central bank is watching and micro-managing two things
at the same time: trying to ensure the forint does not weaken to
340 right now and interbank rates don't shoot up," the dealer
said.
Reacting to the NBH's hawkish turn, the three-month BUBOR
rate has risen about 20 basis points in Hungary since last week.
On Thursday, it was quoted at 0.60%.
The NBH will hold its next rate-setting meeting on Feb. 25
but any policy tweak is likely to come only in March, when the
bank will discuss its fresh inflation forecasts and publish its
inflation report.
A Reuters poll of analysts showed the bank was expected to
leave interest rates unchanged next Tuesday.
Hungary auctioned 12-month treasury bills on Thursday, where
the average yield jumped to 0.51% from 0.19% two weeks ago.
The Czech crown has retreated past the
psychological 25/euro level, trading 0.15% down at 25.002,
followed by the Polish zloty and the Romanian leu
with a 0.1% fall each.
In Romania, the finance ministry plans to sell 600 million
lei ($135.51 million) of September 2023 treasury bonds at tender
and an additional 300 million lei of 364-day paper.
CEE SNAPSHOT AT
MARKETS 1120 CET
CURRENCI
ES
Latest Previous Daily Change
bid close change in
2020
Czech 24.9950 24.9710 -0.10% +1.75
crown %
Hungary 338.2500 337.1800 -0.32% -2.10%
forint
Polish 4.2759 4.2711 -0.11% -0.46%
zloty
Romanian 4.7825 4.7790 -0.07% +0.12
leu %
Croatian Real-Tim 7.4455 N.A. N.A.
kuna e Engine
Initiali
zation
Error
Serbian Real-Tim 117.5500 N.A. N.A.
dinar e Engine
Initiali
zation
Error
Note: calculated from 1800
daily CET
change
Latest Previous Daily Change
close change in
2020
Prague 1103.84 1104.210 -0.03% -1.06%
0
Budapest 45989.87 46182.09 -0.42% -0.20%
Warsaw 2114.39 2115.18 -0.04% -1.66%
Bucharest 10173.70 10204.97 -0.31% +1.97
%
Ljubljana 984.54 983.78 +0.08% +6.34
%
Zagreb 2025.36 2029.53 -0.21% +0.39
%
Belgrade <.BELEX15 791.31 817.64 -3.22% -1.29%
>
Sofia 547.97 548.91 -0.17% -3.55%
Yield Yield Spread Daily
(bid) change vs Bund change
in
Czech spread
Republic
2-year <CZ2YT=RR 1.7700 -0.0100 +241bp -1bps
> s
5-year <CZ5YT=RR 1.6110 -0.0780 +223bp -8bps
> s
10-year <CZ10YT=R 1.6030 0.0330 +202bp +4bps
R> s
Poland
2-year <PL2YT=RR 1.5580 -0.0020 +220bp +0bps
> s
5-year <PL5YT=RR 1.8200 0.0010 +244bp +0bps
> s
10-year <PL10YT=R 2.1370 -0.0110 +256bp -1bps
R> s
FORWARD
3x6 6x9 9x12 3M
interb
ank
Czech Rep < Real-Tim Real-Tim Real-Ti Real-T
PRIBOR=> e Engine e Engine me ime
Initiali Initiali Engine Engine
zation zation Initial Initia
Error Error ization lizati
Error on
Error
Hungary < Real-Tim Real-Tim Real-Ti Real-T
BUBOR=> e Engine e Engine me ime
Initiali Initiali Engine Engine
zation zation Initial Initia
Error Error ization lizati
Error on
Error
Poland < Real-Tim Real-Tim Real-Ti Real-T
WIBOR=> e Engine e Engine me ime
Initiali Initiali Engine Engine
zation zation Initial Initia
Error Error ization lizati
Error on
Error
Note: FRA are for ask prices
quotes
*************************************************
*************
(Reporting by Krisztina Than and Radu Marinas; Editing by
Ramakrishnan M.)
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