CEE MARKETS – Hungarian forint slips as optimism over Cenbank measures fades

By Anita Komuves BUDAPEST, Aug 31 (Reuters) – The forint slid on Wednesday, losing gains from the previous session when the unit firmed to a two-week high after the central bank raised its rate director and announced measures to tighten monetary liquidity in the interbank market. The forint fell 0.3% on the day to 405.00 per euro after strengthening to 401.55 earlier in the day. “The market reacted positively to the messages from the central bank, but there is a significant technical barrier at 402, which has reversed the strengthening, it is a correction,” said a forex trader in Budapest. The currency strengthened on Tuesday after the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) raised its key rate by 100 basis points to 11.75%. The bank also announced new measures, including an increase in the bank reserve requirement ratio to 5% from 1%, auctions of central bank discount bills and a long-term deposit instrument to reduce liquidity in the banking system. “It is clear that the forint will benefit from yesterday’s decision in the coming days. On the other hand, market optimism could quickly fade,” ING wrote in a note. “We believe the market’s attention will once again return to the topic of EU money…which is still the main driver of the forint.” Yields on long-term government bonds were mostly flat on Wednesday, a fixed-income trader said. “Liquidity is low, the market is not yet reacting to the new measures. It is not yet clear how they will affect the market, but short-term yields could approach the base rate while stabilizing the long term, which could encourage buyers.” The yield on the 10-year bond was around 8.85%. Industrial producer price inflation in Hungary accelerated to an annual rate of 37.9% in July, with the national PPI jumping to 52.7% year on year, data showed on Wednesday. The Polish zloty remained stable after flash CPI data showed a 16.1% year-on-year price increase in August, above expectations and up from July’s 15.6%. Second-quarter GDP data came in at 5.5% year-on-year, above an earlier estimate of 5.3%. Elsewhere, the Czech koruna edged up 0.04% to 24.526 against the common currency while the Romanian leu added 0.15% and traded at 4.8600 to the euro. Stock markets were mixed, with Warsaw losing 0.86%, while Prauge added 0.6%. CEE MARKETS OVERVIEW 1104 CET CURRENCY MARKETS Last Previous Daily Change 2022 Supply Close EURCZK Czech 24.5260 24.5350 +0.04% +1.41 = % Krona EURHUF Hungary 405.0000 403.8000 -0.30% -8.79% = Polish EURPLN forint 4.7300 4.7205% -0.7205 = Romanian EURRON zloty 4.8600 4.8675 +0.15% +1.81 = n leu % EURHRK Croatia 7.5100 7.5115 +0.02% +0.10 = n kuna % EURRSD Serbian 117.3000 117.3750 +0.06% +0.24 = dinar % Daily Change Close Change in 2022 .px Prague 1189.98 1182.910 +0.60% 0 .Bux Budapes 42314.15 42362.17 -0.11% -16.57 T% .WIG20 Varsaw 1521.85 1535.11 -0.86% -32.87%. .SBITO Ljublja 1135.75 1132.01 +0.33% -9.54% P na .CRBEX Zagreb 1999.01 1998.29 +0.04% -3.86% .BELEX Belgrade <.belex15 e> % .SOFIX.57 Sofia 612% 3.64% Yield Yield Spread Daily change (bid) against Bund change in spread Czech Republic CZ2YT= CZ5YT= CZ10YT Poland PL2YT = PL5YT= PL10YT FORWARD 3×6 6×9 9×12 3M interb ank Czech Hungary Poland ENG quotes ********************************************** ** * ********** (Additional reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in Warsaw; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)