PRAGUE, June 18 (Reuters) - Poland's zloty firmed on
Thursday after the country's finance minister said the exchange
rate looked too weak, countering indications of concern from the
central bank this week about the currency's strength.
Other central European currencies and stocks mostly
struggled to find a direction, with global markets drifting on
growing fears of a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic as
U.S. cases rose.
The Czech crown eased a touch going into the quiet period
before the central bank's rate setting meeting next week.
Recent policymaker comments have doused expectations the
Czech bank may cut the main interest rate again
after reducing it by 200 basis points to 0.25% since March.
The Polish central bank, which cut rates to near zero in
May, held off this week but signalled it preferred a weaker
zloty during the coronavirus crisis to support economic
recovery, analysts said.
The zloty was up 0.2% at 4.454 to the euro by 0955
GMT.
After the central bank's comments prompted speculation it
could intervene against the zloty, Finance Minister Tadeusz
Koscinski said on Thursday the currency was currently too weak.
"It may be that (Polish central bank) interventions may not
have to happen against the zloty and it will happen naturally
via the market," analysts at bank CSOB said in a note.
"If the central bank continues to buy large sums of state
bonds and the number of (coronavirus) infections doesn't
improve, it is tough to imagine zloty appreciation."
The crown was steady and Hungary's forint
eased 0.15%.
Commerzbank said Czech central banker comments leading up to
next week's rate meeting showed a rejection of the bank turning
to unconventional tools if there was no deterioration in the
coronavirus crisis.
In Romania, where interest rates are higher compared to its
central European peers, the leu was flat.
The central bank there said it would continue to ensure
market liquidity while keeping the exchange rate relatively
stable and gradually lowering interest rates without
discouraging domestic savings.
CEE SNAPSHO AT
MARKETS T 1155
CET
CURRENC
IES
Latest Previou Daily Change
s
bid close change in 2020
EURCZK Czech <EURCZK 26.5990 26.6060 +0.03% -4.39%
= crown =>
EURHUF Hungary <EURHUF 345.050 344.545 -0.15% -4.03%
= forint => 0 0
EURPLN Polish <EURPLN 4.4535 4.4643 +0.24% -4.43%
= zloty =>
EURRON Romanian <EURRON 4.8385 4.8388 +0.01% -1.04%
= leu =>
EURHRK Croatian <EURHRK 7.5440 7.5440 +0.00% -1.31%
= kuna =>
EURRSD Serbian <EURRSD 117.510 117.580 +0.06% +0.05%
= dinar => 0 0
Note: calculated from 1800
daily CET
change
STOCKS
Latest Previou Daily Change
s
close change in 2020
.PX Prague 936.81 933.410 +0.36% -16.03%
0
.BUX Budapest 37594.3 37767.7 -0.46% -18.42%
0 2
.WIG20 Warsaw <.WIG20 1798.43 1787.81 +0.59% -16.36%
>
.BETI Buchares 8714.20 8695.98 +0.21% -12.66%
t
.SBITO Ljubljan <.SBITO 854.23 859.88 -0.66% -7.74%
P a P>
.CRBEX Zagreb <.CRBEX 1639.22 1655.81 -1.00% -18.75%
>
.BELEX Belgrade <.BELEX 675.57 675.80 -0.03% -15.73%
15 15>
.SOFIX Sofia <.SOFIX 459.02 459.46 -0.10% -19.21%
>
BONDS
Yield Yield Spread Daily
(bid) change vs Bund change
in
Czech spread
Republic
CZ2YT= 2-year <CZ2YT= 0.1410 -0.0010 +079bp -1bps
RR RR> s
CZ5YT= 5-year <CZ5YT= 0.4430 0.0450 +108bp +4bps
RR RR> s
CZ10YT <CZ10YT 0.9550 0.0600 +138bp +6bps
=RR 10-year =RR> s
Poland
PL2YT= 2-year <PL2YT= 0.2810 0.0040 +093bp +0bps
RR RR> s
PL5YT= 5-year <PL5YT= 0.8800 -0.0200 +151bp -3bps
RR RR> s
PL10YT <PL10YT 1.4490 -0.0090 +188bp -1bps
=RR 10-year =RR> s
FRA
3x6 6x9 9x12 3M
interba
nk
Czech <CZKFRA 0.31 0.35 0.39 0.34
Rep ><PRIBO
R=>
Hungary <HUFFRA 0.79 0.73 0.68 0.90
><BUBOR
=>
Poland <PLNFRA 0.24 0.27 0.29 0.27
><WIBOR
=>
Note: FRA quotes are for
ask prices
********************************************
******************
(Reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague, Anita Komuves in Budapest
and Alan Charlish in Warsaw; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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