Slovak crown holds near highs, eyes region, cbank

...amid a lack of domestic factors, dealers 
said. 
    The crown traded at 33.970 per euro  as of 0845 
GMT, little changed from 33.945 late on Thursday and just 0.5 
percent off its all-time high of 33.8 per euro from March 8. 
    "With no local data today, we look towards global market 
sentiment to drive the currency, so the U.S. inflation data will 
be of utmost importance in this respect," KBC Bank wrote in a 
market note. 
    U.S. inflation data are due at 1230 GMT. The most closely 
watched figure will likely be core consumer price inflation for 
February which is expected to rise 0.2 percent on the month. 
    Traders saw the crown drifting near 34.0 per euro level in 
the near term, expecting the central bank to prevent sharp 
firming. 
    "One thing is clear -- the central bank will not let the 
currency strengthen below EUR/SKK 33.80 at the moment," KBC 
said. 
    The Slovak central bank intervened on the market to halt the 
crown rise when the unit hit its record highs one week ago. 
------------------ MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0845 GMT ----------------- 
Crown/euro  33.970 vs 33.945 on Thursday (-0.07 pct) 
Crown/dollar  at 25.510 vs 25.629 (+0.47 pct) 
5-yr govt bond  yield 4.237/4.071 vs 4.413/4.013 pct 
7-yr govt bond  yield 4.289/4.156 vs 4.242/4.159 pct 
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