CEE MARKETS-Forint limps into rate decision, zloty clings to recent highs

BUDAPEST, April 25 (Reuters) - The forint eased on Tuesday before Hungary's central bank met to likely deliver a cut at the top end of its interest rate corridor, while the Polish zloty touched a fresh 10-month high before retreating with other central European currencies. Markets expect Hungary's central bank to begin easing policy after Deputy Governor Barnabas Virag told business website vg.hu last week the bank could cut its 25% top collateralised loan rate today as part of a "multi-step process" towards policy normalisation. Analysts have seen that as testing the water before more easing, and the forint has weakened since last week. The forint was down 0.2% at 377.8 to the euro at 0957 GMT before the bank's decision was due. It had firmed last week to a one-year high beyond 370 before Virag's comments weakened it by almost 2% after the announcement. The loan rate is the top of the central bank's corridor used to guide interbank markets toward the policy rate, setting limits on rate-setting. The bank also has an 18% one-day deposit rate which has helped attract money flows and boosted the forint, which had touched record lows a half-year ago. "We expect the upper end of the interest rate corridor to be cut by 300 basis points, but this doesn’t imply an effective rate cut," said brokerage Equilor. The Czech crown also weakened by 0.24% to 23.557 per euro and Polish zloty lost 0.04%, trading at 4.601, off a session high of 4.5945, its strongest since June last year. The zloty has been the best performing currency in the region in recent weeks after it had lagged peers earlier this year, with fading expectations of rate cuts helping.

CEE SNAPSHO AT

MARKETS T 1108

CET

CURRENC

IES

Latest Previou Daily Change s

bid close change in 2023 EURCZK Czech <EURCZK 23.5570 23.5000 -0.24% +2.55% = crown =>
EURHUF Hungary <EURHUF 377.800 377.000 -0.21% +5.73% = forint => 0 0
EURPLN Polish <EURPLN 4.6030 4.6010 -0.04% +1.88% = zloty =>
EURRON Romanian <EURRON 4.9429 4.9317 -0.23% -0.01% = leu =>
EURRSD Serbian <EURRSD 117.210 117.295 +0.07% +0.08% = dinar => 0 0

Note: calculated from 1800

daily CET

change

Latest Previou Daily Change s

close change in 2023 .PX Prague 1408.49 1407.77 +0.05% +17.21 00 % .BUX Budapest 43532.6 43538.9 -0.01% -0.60% 6 6
.WIG20 Warsaw <.WIG20 1900.05 1911.19 -0.58% +6.03% >
.BETI Buchares 12426.7 12425.8 +0.01% +6.54% t 6 3
.SBITO Ljubljan <.SBITO 1235.85 1237.95 -0.17% +17.83 P a P> % .CRBEX Zagreb <.CRBEX 2266.98 2266.50 +0.02% +762.7 > 2% .BELEX Belgrade <.BELEX 896.87 889.28 +0.85% +8.76% 15 15>
.SOFIX Sofia <.SOFIX 610.26 611.40 -0.19% +1.46% >

Yield Yield Spread Daily (bid) change vs Bund change in Czech spread Republic
CZ2YT= 2-year <CZ2YT= 5.7560 0.0490 +285bp +3bps RR RR> s
CZ5YT= 5-year <CZ5YT= 5.1400 -0.0060 +264bp -2bps RR RR> s
CZ10YT <CZ10YT 4.7580 0.0070 +230bp +0bps =RR 10-year =RR> s

Poland
PL2YT= 2-year <PL2YT= 6.0730 -0.0160 +317bp -3bps RR RR> s
PL5YT= 5-year <PL5YT= 6.0760 -0.0320 +358bp -4bps RR RR> s
PL10YT <PL10YT 6.0680 -0.0370 +361bp -5bps =RR 10-year =RR> s

FORWARD

3x6 6x9 9x12 3M interba nk Czech <CZKFRA 7.17 6.84 6.20 7.17 Rep ><PRIBO

R=>

Hungary <HUFFRA 14.72 13.00 11.67 16.25 ><BUBOR

=>

Poland <PLNFRA 6.85 6.73 6.41 6.90 ><WIBOR

=>

Note: are for ask

FRA prices

quotes

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(Reporting by Boldizsar Gyori in Budapest and Karol Badohal in Warsaw, Editing by William Maclean)

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