Slovak crown slips to 3-mo low vs euro, awaits Fed

...of an interest rate decision by the 
U.S. Federal Reserve, dealers said. 
    At 1215 GMT, the crown was at 33.860 per euro , 
compared with 33.970, its softest level since June 27, seen 
earlier in the session. It closed at 33.860 on Monday. 
    "There is still negative sentiment around. Everybody waits 
what the Fed does and emerging markets will react on that," said 
a dealer with a foreign bank in Bratislava. 
    "If they do nothing it (emerging markets) will go to hell. 
The question is not whether the cut would help but how big it 
will be," he said. 
    Analysts expect the Fed to trim the benchmark interest rate 
by 25-50 basis points from 5.25 percent for the first time since 
mid-2003 later on Tuesday to shield the economy from a housing 
decline and a credit market crunch. 
    "As a 50 basis-point cut is not fully discounted in market 
rates, it could be a partial surprise, and possibly triggering a 
move in the EMEA currencies," said Lucia Steklacova, senior 
economist at ING Bank in Bratislava. 
    "We now think that 33.950 per euro will protect the crown 
from further losses and we expect stabilisation in a 
33.700-33.950 range," she wrote in a note. 
 --------------- MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 1215 GMT ------------------- 
 Crown/euro at 33.860, unchanged from Monday 
 Crown/dollar  at 24.400 bid vs 24.385 (-0.06 pct) 
 5-yr bond yld due Mar 2012  at 4.42 pct bid vs 4.45 
10-yr bond yld due April 2017  at 4.73 vs 4.63 pct 
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