CEE MARKETS-FX Drift, Delay Lows as Ukraine Remains in Focus
PRAGUE, March 11 (Reuters) – Central European currencies mostly fell on Friday but held off lows hit earlier in the week, while stocks gained ground even as investors remained focused on the war in Ukraine and risks to the regional growth.
European Union leaders were holding a summit at the Palace of Versailles in France, with talks expected to be dominated by calls for more action to punish Russia for its invasion, help Ukraine and deal with an influx of near 2.5 million refugees in just two weeks.
Central Europe has been hit hard by a global flight to safer assets after Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine, which prompted a series of harsh Western sanctions against Moscow.
The Hungarian forint and Polish zloty fell to record lows on Monday amid a global selloff.
The falling currencies already prompted Czech and Polish central banks to intervene in the markets last week as Hungarian policymakers raised interest rates.
The Hungarian central bank (NBH) raised its one-week deposit rate by 50 basis points to 5.85% in a weekly tender on Thursday, extending its rate-tightening campaign.
“With geopolitical risks still dominating FX and commodity price movements, we believe that the BNH will currently continue to use the one-week deposit to respond quickly to deteriorating risks by raising rates while keeping them low. now unchanged when these come lower,” Morgan Stanley said. analysts said.
the forint EURHUF= was stable on Friday at 380.11 per euro at 09:36 GMT, after a record low of 400 reached on Monday.
The zloty EURPLN= fell 0.2% to 4.793 per euro, while the Czech koruna EURCZK= also little changed at 25,216.
The Czech central bank, which raised its key rate to 4.50%, its highest level in 20 years, was the most aggressive among central European policy tighteners seen since last year as inflation s fly away. The region expects even greater price pressures due to the conflict in Ukraine.
Czech inflation could accelerate by 1 to 2 percentage points from the 11.1% recorded in February, central bank governor Jiri Rusnok said on Thursday. He said a further moderate rate hike could not be ruled out.
CEE MARKETS
INSTANTANEOUS
At 10:36 a.m. CET
CURRENCIES
Last
Previous
Daily
Change
bid
Close
change
in 2022
EURCZK=
Czech koruna
EURCZK=
25.2160
25.2125
-0.01%
-1.36%
EURHUF=
Hungarian forint
EURHUF=
380.1100
380.2100
+0.03%
-2.82%
EURPLN=
polish zloty
EURPLN=
4.7930
4.7855
-0.16%
-4.21%
EURRON=
lei in Romanian
EURRON=
4.9490
4.9493
+0.01%
-0.02%
EURHRK=
Croatian kuna
EURHRK=
7.5700
7.5675
-0.03%
-0.69%
EURRSD=
Serbian dinar
EURRSD=
117.5900
117.6500
+0.05%
-0.01%
Note: daily change
calculated from
1800 CET
INVENTORY
Last
Previous
Daily
Change
Close
change
in 2022
.PX
prague
.PX
1289.73
1284.1000
+0.44%
.BUX
Budapest
.BUX
42704.87
42028.33
+1.61%
-15.80%
.WIG20
Warsaw
.WIG20
2003.49
1970.27
+1.69%
-11.62%
.BETI
Bucharest
.BETI
11970.06
11921.85
+0.40%
-8.35%
.SBITOP
Ljubljana
.SBITOP
1091.65
1084.83
+0.63%
-13.05%
.CRBEX
Zagreb
.CRBEX
1965.16
1962.40
+0.14%
-5.49%
.BELEX15
Belgrade
.BELEX15
832.12
833.93
-0.22%
+1.38%
.SOFIX
Sofia
.SOFIX
568.95
570.49
-0.27%
-10.50%
OBLIGATIONS
Yield
Yield
propagated
Daily
(bid)
change
vs. Bunds
change
Czech Republic
spread
CZ2YT=RR
2 years
CZ2YT=RR
4.8170
-0.0060
+524bps
+2 base points
CZ5YT=RR
5 years
CZ5YT=RR
4.0110
-0.0260
+404bps
+0 basis points
CZ10YT=RR
10 years
CZ10YT=RR
3.6450
0.0010
+339 basis points
+2 base points
Poland
PL2YT=RR
2 years
PL2YT=RR
5.3340
0.0000
+575 basis points
+2 base points
PL5YT=RR
5 years
PL5YT=RR
5.4040
0.0450
+543bps
+7 basis points
PL10YT=RR
10 years
PL10YT=RR
5.0360
0.0080
+478 basis points
+2 base points
ENG
3×6
6×9
9×12
3M interbank
Czech Republic
CZKFRAPRIBOUR=
5.40
5.42
5.33
4.82
Hungary
OYSTERBUBOR=
7.90
7.79
7.61
6.19
Poland
PLNFRAWIBOR=
5.85
5.90
5.87
4.18
Note: FRA quotations correspond to asking prices
************************************************** **** ***********
(Reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague and Anita Komuves in Budapest; Editing by Kim Coghill)
((jason.hovet@thomsonreuters.com))
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.