CEE MARKETS-Forint firms past 380/euro level with Hungary c.bank meeting on deck

PRAGUE, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Hungary's forint firmed past the psychological 380 per euro level on Monday for the fourth time this month as it hangs around a multi-month high, while central Europe's stock markets mostly rose. Markets are tuned to a Hungarian central bank meeting on Tuesday, where the bank is widely expected to hold interest rates steady but is likely to give further hints over how soon it could ease policy. "The Hungarian central bank meeting will be the most important event locally," Erste Group Bank said. "The communique will be decisive as markets' participants will be looking for indication on the normalization of interest rates." Economists in a Reuters poll saw room for cuts of up to 250 basis points by the end of the year amid a fall in inflation to single digits. The forint, trading around its strongest since last May, has been supported by the European Union's highest interest rates, with the central bank's base rate at 13%, along with hopes of European Union funds being unlocked from a rule-of-law dispute with Brussels. It was 0.2% stronger on Monday, at 379.30 to the euro, and has gained over 5% so far in 2023, sitting comfortably away from all-time lows of last October at above 430 to the euro. Budapest stocks eased a touch, while other bourses in central Europe nudged higher, tracking European peers.

The region's other currencies also held stronger on Monday, with the Czech crown inching up 0.1% and testing the 23.60 per euro barrier as it also sits around more than 14-year highs due to better market sentiment as energy prices calm. The Polish zloty was a tad stronger at 4.716 per euro. A touch-firmer euro was supporting the region although dollar strength overall is sapping the region's potential for currency gains. "We also believe that the appreciation potential of the Polish currency is close to exhaustion. The EUR/PLN exchange rate is moving in a wide range of 4.70 – 4.7650," Bank Millennium said.

CEE SNAPSHO AT

MARKETS T 1053

CET

CURRENC

IES

Latest Previou Daily Change s

bid close change in 2023 EURCZK Czech <EURCZK 23.6150 23.6360 +0.09% +2.30% = crown =>
EURHUF Hungary <EURHUF 379.300 380.150 +0.22% +5.31% = forint => 0 0
EURPLN Polish <EURPLN 4.7155 4.7175 +0.04% -0.55% = zloty =>
EURRON Romanian <EURRON 4.9206 4.9212 +0.01% +0.45% = leu =>
EURHRK Croatian <EURHRK 7.5330 7.5365 +0.05% +0.05% = kuna =>
EURRSD Serbian <EURRSD 117.240 117.285 +0.04% +0.05% = dinar => 0 0

Note: calculated from 1800

daily CET

change

Latest Previou Daily Change s

close change in 2023 .PX Prague 1390.84 1387.85 +0.22% +15.74 00 % .BUX Budapest 45157.5 45268.1 -0.24% +3.11% 7 1
.WIG20 Warsaw <.WIG20 1812.95 1807.31 +0.31% +1.17% >
.BETI Buchares 12345.5 12323.7 +0.18% +5.85% t 5 4
.SBITO Ljubljan <.SBITO 1203.95 1207.93 -0.33% +14.79 P a P> % .BELEX Belgrade <.BELEX 880.20 874.54 +0.65% +6.74% 15 15>
.SOFIX Sofia <.SOFIX 617.44 619.02 -0.26% +2.65% >

Yield Yield Spread Daily (bid) change vs Bund change in Czech spread Republic
CZ2YT= 2-year <CZ2YT= 5.9860 0.2470 +293bp +21bps RR RR> s
CZ5YT= 5-year <CZ5YT= 5.2140 -0.0220 +256bp -6bps RR RR> s
CZ10YT <CZ10YT 4.8570 0.0340 +230bp +0bps =RR 10-year =RR> s

Poland
PL2YT= 2-year <PL2YT= 6.3900 0.0470 +334bp +1bps RR RR> s
PL5YT= 5-year <PL5YT= 6.5840 0.0400 +393bp +1bps RR RR> s
PL10YT <PL10YT 6.6360 0.0530 +408bp +2bps =RR 10-year =RR> s

FORWARD

3x6 6x9 9x12 3M interba nk Czech <CZKFRA 7.21 7.05 6.53 7.21 Rep ><PRIBO

R=>

Hungary <HUFFRA 15.05 13.72 11.92 16.30 ><BUBOR

Poland <PLNFRA 6.98 7.00 6.73 6.94 ><WIBOR

Note: are for ask

FRA prices

quotes

********************************************

******************

(Reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague, Gergely Szakacs in Budapest, and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in Warsaw; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

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CEE MARKETS-Forint firms past 380/euro level with Hungary c.bank meeting on deck

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