PRAGUE, May 10 (Reuters) - Central European stock markets
charged ahead on Monday, with Warsaw's blue-chip index touching
its highest since February 2020, while currencies largely gave
back recent gains.
    Stocks followed global equity markets higher on prospects
that interest rates in the United States will remain low and the
economic recovery on track. 
    Locally, Prague shares were also propelled by a 1% rise in
utility CEZ before it reports quarterly results on
Tuesday. CEZ shares have been lifted to multi-year highs by
expectations of a hefty dividend after it sold some foreign
assets.
    Prague's PX index added 0.6% overall, Budapest
was 0.5% higher and Warsaw led gains with a 1.5% rise.
    On currency markets, the Hungarian forint cooled
0.15% to trade at 358.12 to the euro. The Czech crown
was steady at 25.637 per euro.
    Both were waiting on inflation data due on Tuesday, with an
inflation spike in Hungary recently drawing some attention.
    The Hungarian central bank expects headline inflation to
approach 5% in the second quarter, driven by fuel prices and tax
changes, overshooting its 2%-4% target range. It has called the
move temporary but has pledged to prevent any sustained rise.

    Czech rate setters, on the other hand, have flagged that
they could become the first in the region to begin tightening
policy sooner rather than later.
    Market bets on a rate hike as soon as August have jumped
since last Thursday's Czech policy meeting after which Governor
Jiri Rusnok said a rate rise this year was a certainty.
 Rates markets were quieter on Monday while bond
yields were mixed.
    Elsewhere, the Polish zloty  slipped 0.45%, giving
up gains from last Friday after a decision from the country's
Supreme Court that set the stage for a hearing this week to
determine how courts treat thousands of borrowers who took out
Swiss franc loans more than a decade ago.
    
                   CEE      SNAPSHO   AT                      
                   MARKETS  T        1120              
                                     CET               
                                                              
                   CURRENC                                    
                   IES                                 
                            Latest   Previou  Daily    Change
                                     s                 
                            bid      close    change   in 2021
 EURCZK  Czech                                       
 EURHUF  Hungary                0        0           
 EURPLN  Polish                                      
 EURRON  Romanian                                    
 EURHRK  Croatian                                    
 EURRSD  Serbian                0        0           
         Note:     calcula                    1800            
         daily     ted                        CET      
         change    from STOCKS                                     
                            Latest   Previou  Daily    Change
                                     s                 
                                     close    change   in 2021
 .PX     Prague             1116.60  1109.87   +0.61%   +8.71%
                                          00           
 .BUX    Budapest           44392.2  44164.3   +0.52%   +5.43%
                                  8        7           
 .WIG20  Warsaw    <.WIG20  2129.03  2097.31   +1.51%   +7.31%
                   >                                   
 .BETI   Buchares           11664.9  11591.4   +0.63%   +18.96
         t                        7        8                 %
 .SBITO  Ljubljan  <.SBITO  1068.22  1067.88   +0.03%   +18.58
 P       a         P>                                        %
 .CRBEX  Zagreb    <.CRBEX  1950.24  1935.53   +0.76%   +12.13
                   >                                         %
 .BELEX  Belgrade  <.BELEX   754.96   755.92   -0.13%   +0.85%
 15                15>                                 
 .SOFIX  Sofia     <.SOFIX   518.07   518.05   +0.00%   +15.76
                   >                                         %
                                                              
                   BONDS                                      
                            Yield    Yield    Spread   Daily
                            (bid)    change   vs Bund  change
                                                       in
         Czech                                         spread
         Republic                                      
 CZ2YT=    2-year                                s  
 CZ5YT=    5-year                                s  
 CZ10YT                                         s  
         Poland                                               
 PL2YT=    2-year                                s  
 PL5YT=    5-year                                s  
 PL10YT                                         s  
                                                              
                   FRA                                        
                            3x6      6x9      9x12     3M
                                                       interba
                                                       nk
         Czech                                      
         Hungary                                     
         Poland                                      
         Note: FRA quotes                                     
         are for ask                                   
         prices                                        
         ***********************************                  
         ***************************                   
                                                              
 
    

 (Reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague
Editing by Gareth Jones)