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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