Slovak crown flat, more bullish trend seen likely

    BRATISLAVA, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The Slovak crown <EURSKK=> 
traded near its record highs on Monday after some investors took 
profits from the recent rally, and dealers said they saw room 
for more gains in the coming days. 
    The crown ended at 36.590 to the euro, little changed from 
36.570 late last week and slightly weaker from the record high 
of 36.490 it hit on Friday. 
    The crown has firmed in the past month thanks to bullish 
mood on central European markets, a government approval of the 
2007 state budget draft that is in line with the euro adoption 
plan and because of expectations of higher interest rates. 
    Analysts said the next domestic impetus for the crown would 
come from a central bank monetary policy meeting on Oct. 31. 
    Market anticipation of a central bank interest rate hike in 
October has eased due to the steady crown firming in recent 
days, but some analysts still predict a 25 basis point increase 
in the key two-week rate after a similar move in September. 
    ING Bank said it saw more monetary policy tightening by the 
end of 2006 even if the central bank decided to keep rates on 
hold in October. A near-term firming impulse for the crown could 
also come from neighbouring Hungarian forint and Polish zloty. 
    "Therefore, we perceive the risk (for the crown) as biased 
to the bullish side," ING said in a market report. 
----------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 1430 GMT------------------- 
Crown/Euro <EURSKK=> 36.590 vs 36.570 on Friday 
Crown/Dollar <SKK=>  29.015 vs 29.000 (-0.05 pct) 
5-yr govt bond <SK5YT=RR> yield 4.602/4.336 vs 4.535/4.234 
9-yr govt bond <SK9YT=RR> yield 4.542/4.341 vs 4.539/4.338 
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  ((Reporting by Peter Laca, editing by David Christian-Edwards; 
Reuters Messaging: martin.santa.reuters.com@reuters.net; +421 
5341 8402)) 
  Keywords: MARKETS SLOVAKIA CROWN CLOSE