CEE MARKETS-Forint stays strong in face of technical recession, CEZ jumps

By Jason Hovet PRAGUE, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The forint gained on Tuesday, sticking close to a more than eight-month high as it shook off data showing Hungary's economy slipped into a technical recession, with markets strong before U.S. inflation data to be released later in the day. Central Europe's currencies have been caught up in U.S. dollar moves in recent trading, and on Tuesday a weaker dollar boosted appetite in the European Union's emerging east. It comes even as data on Tuesday around the region showed the toll high inflation was having in the region, with Hungary following the Czech Republic into a technical recession in the fourth quarter and Poland falling quickly on a quarter-on-quarter basis. The forint had gained 0.2% to 382.25 to the euro by 1035 GMT, keeping up a hot streak seen this year as it has risen already 4.5%, supported by its higher yield compared to peers in the region. The forint has been shored up since last October as the central bank has lifted its key policy rate to 13% and a one-day deposit rate at 18%. Data from the central bank on Tuesday showed Hungary's current account deficit narrowed to 694 million euros in December from 1.699 billion euros in November, giving some currency relief. In Poland, the zloty edged up 0.1% with data showing the economy falling on a quarterly basis and year-on-year growth slowing to 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Romania's leu was steady after economic growth was stronger than expected in the fourth quarter. Other economic data from the region showed economies holding up still, even as high inflation that is sapping consumer demand should slow growth sharply this year, analysts say. "The falls in GDP in Central and Eastern Europe shown in the Q4 figures probably mark the worst of the regional downturn, but we still think that activity will (at best) only stagnate over the first half of this year," Capital Economics said. On stock markets, bourses mostly followed global peers up. Czech majority state-owned utility CEZ jumped a second straight day and hit a fresh more than five-month high amid ongoing speculation into a possible restructuring. Its gains pushed the Prague index to a nearly one-year high. CEE SNAPSHO AT

MARKETS T 1135

CET

CURRENC

IES

Latest Previou Daily Change s

bid close change in 2023 EURCZK Czech <EURCZK 23.7650 23.7440 -0.09% +1.65% = crown =>
EURHUF Hungary <EURHUF 382.250 383.150 +0.24% +4.50% = forint => 0 0
EURPLN Polish <EURPLN 4.7840 4.7900 +0.13% -1.97% = zloty =>
EURRON Romanian <EURRON 4.9005 4.9018 +0.03% +0.86% = leu =>
EURHRK Croatian <EURHRK 7.5330 7.5365 +0.05% +0.05% = kuna =>
EURRSD Serbian <EURRSD 117.200 117.300 +0.09% +0.09% = dinar => 0 0

Note: calculated from 1800

daily CET

change

Latest Previou Daily Change s

close change in 2023 .PX Prague 1411.59 1398.10 +0.96% +17.46 00 % .BUX Budapest 46583.5 46233.4 +0.76% +6.37% 6 7
.WIG20 Warsaw <.WIG20 1861.07 1853.29 +0.42% +3.85% >
.BETI Buchares 12312.6 12336.1 -0.19% +5.57% t 1 4
.SBITO Ljubljan <.SBITO 1184.96 1181.23 +0.32% +12.98 P a P> % .CRBEX Zagreb <.CRBEX 2151.68 2134.62 +0.80% +718.8 > 5% .BELEX Belgrade <.BELEX 872.23 872.23 +0.00% +5.77% 15 15>
.SOFIX Sofia <.SOFIX 608.66 612.35 -0.60% +1.19% >

Yield Yield Spread Daily (bid) change vs Bund change in Czech spread Republic
CZ2YT= 2-year <CZ2YT= 5.6900 -0.1330 +291bp -13bps RR RR> s
CZ5YT= 5-year <CZ5YT= 4.9330 -0.0220 +252bp -1bps RR RR> s
CZ10YT <CZ10YT 4.6010 -0.0140 +225bp +1bps =RR 10-year =RR> s

Poland
PL2YT= 2-year <PL2YT= 6.1880 -0.1270 +341bp -12bps RR RR> s
PL5YT= 5-year <PL5YT= 6.1190 -0.0330 +371bp -2bps RR RR> s
PL10YT <PL10YT 6.1230 -0.0380 +377bp -2bps =RR 10-year =RR> s

FORWARD

3x6 6x9 9x12 3M interba nk Czech <CZKFRA 7.19 7.01 6.45 7.20 Rep ><PRIBO

R=>

Hungary <HUFFRA 15.08 13.77 12.29 16.13 ><BUBOR

Poland <PLNFRA 7.00 6.89 6.54 6.92 ><WIBOR

Note: are for ask

FRA prices

quotes

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(Reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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CEE MARKETS-Forint stays strong in face of technical recession, CEZ jumps

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