CEE MARKETS-Forint jumps, crown stays near 14-year highs after rates kept on hold

(Updates after Czech, ECB rate meetings) By Jason Hovet PRAGUE, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Central Europe's currencies gained on Thursday on the back of euro strength, with the Hungarian forint jumping 1% to claw back recent losses and the Czech crown holding near a 14-year high after the central bank signalled further rate stability. The Czech National Bank held its main interest rate steady at a more than two-decade high of 7.00% on Thursday, indicating rates would be stable for longer, with Governor Ales Michl saying they would remain higher than what the market had priced. The European Central Bank on Thursday delivered a 50 basis point rate rise, keeping the euro - central Europe's main reference currency - strong against the dollar as investors took a dovish cue from the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday. That gave a boost to risk appetite in central Europe. The forint was the biggest mover, rising 1.1% to 385.85 to the euro by 1558 GMT. It traded at its highest since last May, when the forint began a sharper slide. "The ECB hiked rates, and in their comments they flagged the March rate hike ... This was a bit too much for the market," a Budapest-based dealer said.

The crown also firmed 0.15% to 23.75 to the euro. The central bank signalled rate stability ahead for an unspecified period. It also said it would be ready to hike rates if risks to the forecast materialised. Michl said a strong crown was important to help fight inflation.

"A bit (of a rise) from the day's lows as he sounded a bit hawkish," a trader said regarding moves in the rates market after Michl's comments.

Rates were up around 10 basis points.

Elsewhere, the Polish zloty rose 0.6% and Romania's leu was steady. Central European stocks mostly rose, with Warsaw blue chips climbing almost 2%. CEE SNAPSHO AT

MARKETS T 1658

CET

CURRENC

IES

Latest Previou Daily Change s

bid close change in 2023 EURCZK Czech <EURCZK 23.7500 23.7860 +0.15% +1.72% = crown =>
EURHUF Hungary <EURHUF 385.850 390.100 +1.10% +3.52% = forint => 0 0
EURPLN Polish <EURPLN 4.6830 4.7125 +0.63% +0.14% = zloty =>
EURRON Romanian <EURRON 4.9075 4.9065 -0.02% +0.71% = leu =>
EURHRK Croatian <EURHRK 7.5330 7.5365 +0.05% +0.05% = kuna =>
EURRSD Serbian <EURRSD 117.320 117.370 +0.04% -0.02% = dinar => 0 0

Note: calculated from 1800

daily CET

change

Latest Previou Daily Change s

close change in 2023 .PX Prague 1351.96 1342.50 +0.70% +12.50 00 % .BUX Budapest 45673.0 45209.7 +1.02% +4.29% 4 0
.WIG20 Warsaw <.WIG20 1907.40 1871.93 +1.89% +6.44% >
.BETI Buchares 12246.0 12168.1 +0.64% +4.99% t 6 6
.SBITO Ljubljan <.SBITO 1158.02 1149.77 +0.72% +10.41 P a P> % .CRBEX Zagreb <.CRBEX 2115.56 2117.75 -0.10% +705.1 > 0% .BELEX Belgrade <.BELEX 861.61 857.36 +0.50% +4.49% 15 15>
.SOFIX Sofia <.SOFIX 612.56 615.10 -0.41% +1.84% >

Yield Yield Spread Daily (bid) change vs Bund change in Czech spread Republic
CZ2YT= 2-year <CZ2YT= 5.7140 0.0090 +323bp +19bps RR RR> s
CZ5YT= 5-year <CZ5YT= 4.8720 -0.1230 +279bp +11bps RR RR> s
CZ10YT <CZ10YT 4.4290 -0.1480 +237bp +8bps =RR 10-year =RR> s

Poland
PL2YT= 2-year <PL2YT= 5.8270 -0.1970 +334bp -2bps RR RR> s
PL5YT= 5-year <PL5YT= 5.6390 -0.2850 +355bp -5bps RR RR> s
PL10YT <PL10YT 5.7550 -0.2490 +369bp -2bps =RR 10-year =RR> s

FORWARD

3x6 6x9 9x12 3M interba nk Czech <CZKFRA 7.13 6.90 6.39 7.20 Rep ><PRIBO

R=>

Hungary <HUFFRA 14.40 12.72 10.89 16.05 ><BUBOR

=>

Poland <PLNFRA 6.94 6.77 6.32 6.95 ><WIBOR

=>

Note: are for ask

FRA prices

quotes

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(Reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague, Krisztina Than in Budapest and Pawel Florkiewicz in Warsaw; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Mark Heinrich)

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