CEE MARKETS – Forint stabilizes after another sharp rate hike by Cenbank
Band Anita Komuves
BUDAPEST, April 26 (Reuters) – The forint pared its earlier losses to trade little changed on Tuesday after Hungary’s central bank raised its base rate by 100 basis points to 5.4% as expected, continuing its tightening cycle as it battles a surge of inflation.
the forint EURHUF=which had weakened earlier in the day, rose 0.01% to 374.60 per euro after the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) hiked rates again, in response to rising inflation, which is at its highest level in two decades.
The forint did not move much after the decision because it had been priced in, two traders in Budapest said.
“Now the big question is what will happen to the one-week deposit rate on Thursday,” said one trader.
The bank uses the one-week deposit rate, set every Thursday in its weekly tender, to deal with short-term market volatility. The one-week deposit rate is currently above the prime rate at 6.15%.
The central bank “has not raised this (one-week deposit) rate for a few weeks, but it acts as an upper bound towards which the base rate will converge in the coming months,” Commerzbank wrote in a note. .
“The degree of further increase in this rate will offer clues to the degree of further increase in the base rate itself.”
Yields on long-term government bonds were not immediately changed after the rate hike, said a fixed-income trader in Budapest. The yield on the 10-year bond was around 6.75%.
Markets were also eyeing an online briefing to be held at 13:00 GMT where central bank governor Gyorgy Matolcsy, in a rare public appearance, will discuss current monetary policy issues.
Elsewhere, the Czech crown EURCZK= added 0.11% and traded at 24.449 per euro. The Polish zloty EURPLN= firmed 0.17% at 4.6502 against the common currency.
Stocks in the region were mixed. Prague actions .PX added 0.58% while Budapest .BUX was 0.48% higher. Bucharest .BETI slipped 1.31%.
Warsaw actions .WIG20 increased by 0.23%. WIG Banks Warsaw Index .BKNI was broadly stable after falling about 6% on Monday after Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced plans to help borrowers struggling with high interest rates.
CEE MARKETS
INSTANTANEOUS
At 2:34 p.m. CET
CURRENCIES
Latest
Previous
Daily
Switch
offer
close
cash
in 2022
EURCZK=
Czech koruna
EURCZK=
24.4490
24.4750
+0.11%
+1.73%
EURHUF=
Hungarian forint
EURHUF=
374.6000
374.6400
+0.01%
-1.39%
EURPLN=
polish zloty
EURPLN=
4.6502
4.6580
+0.17%
-1.27%
EURRON=
lei in Romanian
EURRON=
4.9460
4.9454
-0.01%
+0.04%
EURHRK=
Croatian kuna
EURHRK=
7.5630
7.5615
-0.02%
-0.60%
EURRSD=
Serbian dinar
EURRSD=
117.5500
117.6900
+0.12%
+0.03%
Note: daily change
calculated from
1800 CET
Latest
Previous
Daily
Switch
close
cash
in 2022
.PX
prague
.PX
1370.12
1362.2000
+0.58%
.BUX
Budapest
.BUX
42482.40
42280.37
+0.48%
-16.24%
.WIG20
Warsaw
.WIG20
1923.98
1919.55
+0.23%
-15.13%
.BETI
Bucharest
.BETI
12833.83
13004.37
-1.31%
-1.74%
.SBITOP
Ljubljana
.SBITOP
1171.83
1167.35
+0.38%
-6.66%
.CRBEX
Zagreb
.CRBEX
2127.78
2119.80
+0.38%
+2.33%
.BELEX15
Belgrade
.BELEX15
821.37
823.12
-0.21%
+0.07%
.SOFIX
Sofia
.SOFIX
630.07
635.25
-0.82%
-0.88%
Yield
Yield
propagated
Daily
(offer)
cash
vs. Bunds
switch
Czech republic
spread
CZ2YT=RR
2 years
CZ2YT=RR
5.2010
-0.1250
+507 basis points
-11bps
CZ5YT=RR
5 years
CZ5YT=RR
4.7230
0.0000
+415 basis points
+2 base points
CZ10YT=RR
10 years
CZ10YT=RR
4.3380
-0.0280
+352bps
+0 basis points
Poland
PL2YT=RR
2 years
PL2YT=RR
6.4610
-0.1010
+633 basis points
-9bps
PL5YT=RR
5 years
PL5YT=RR
6.5560
-0.1230
+599bps
-11bps
PL10YT=RR
10 years
PL10YT=RR
6.1070
-0.1140
+529bps
-9bps
BEFORE
3×6
6×9
9×12
3M interbank
Czech republic
CZKFRAPRIBOUR=
6.13
6.11
6.04
5.40
Hungary
OYSTERBUBOR=
7.88
8.21
8.29
6.62
Poland
PLNFRAWIBOR=
7.12
7.12
7.10
5.79
Note: ENG Quotes
are for asking prices
************************************************** **** ***********
(Additional reporting by Alan Charlish in Warsaw and Jason Hovet in Prague; Editing by William Maclean and Jan Harvey)
((komuves.anita@thomsonreuters.com)(+36 70 795 8815))
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