Slovak crown nears 7-mo high vs euro, seen firmer

    BRATISLAVA, Oct 9 (Reuters) - The Slovak crown <EURSKK=> 
traded near seven-month highs against the euro on Monday, and 
dealers said the currency might firm in the short run if 
regional sentiment improves. 
    The crown traded at 37.070 to the euro as of 1410 GMT, 
compared with Friday's seven month high of 37.015. It was 0.12 
percent up from the previous close of 37.115. 
    "The market is pushing the crown towards stronger levels of 
around 37.0 per euro. Technically, it looks like it could test 
this level this week," said Tatra Banka dealer Boris Somorovsky. 
    But traders said further gains might be limited ahead of 
Wednesday's government meeting at which the cabinet of Prime 
Minister Robert Fico is expected to approve the 2007 state 
budget draft. 
    The cabinet is set to trim the overall fiscal gap to 3 
percent of GDP, the ceiling laid down under the euro adoption 
criteria. Slovakia hopes to meet all criteria in 2008 and adopt 
the single currency in 2009. 
----------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 1410 GMT------------------- 
Crown/Euro <EURSKK=> 37.070 vs 37.115 (+0.12 pct) on Friday 
Crown/Dollar <SKK=>  29.397 vs 29.505 (+0.36) 
5-yr govt bond <SK5YT=RR> yield 4.823/4.522 vs 4.922/4.623 
9-yr govt bond <SK9YT=RR> yield 4.400/4.330 vs 4.481/4.280 
-------------------------------------------------------------- 
 ((Reporting by Martin Santa, editing by Gerrard Raven; 
martin.santa@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: 
martin.santa.reuters.com@reuters.net; +421-2 5341 8402)) 
 
  Keywords: MARKETS SLOVAKIA CROWN CLOSE