Slovak crown dips vs euro, investors eye Fed

    BRATISLAVA, Oct 24 (Reuters) - The Slovak crown dipped 
slightly against the euro on Tuesday in line with moves in 
regional currencies as investors booked profits ahead of 
Wednesday's Federal Reserve rate decision, dealers said. 
    The crown hit an all-time high of 36.490 per euro last week, 
buoyed by the 2007 state budget draft approval, a Slovakia 
ratings upgrade and the bullish mood in emerging markets. 
    "Some investors are reducing their emerging market positions 
ahead of the Fed meeting," said VUB bank dealer Laco Benedek. 
    The crown was quoted at 36.615 per euro bid as of 0850 GMT 
<EURSKK=>, down from 36.590 late on Monday. 
    The Fed is expected to keep rates on hold, but markets have 
scaled back expectations for rate cuts in recent weeks due to 
hawkish remarks from Fed officials. 
    Traders expected the crown to float between 36.500 and 
36.700 per euro in the coming days, saying regional moves would 
set the unit's direction ahead of the Slovak central bank's 
policy meeting on October 31. 
    Market pencilled in a 25 basis points rate hike for October, 
betting policymakers will continue tightening monetary screws to 
keep inflation in check. 
    But some said the crown's rally over the past month might 
bring a pause in the tightening cycle. The central bank has 
pushed up the key two-week repo rate by 175 basis points rate to 
4.75 percent this year. 
----------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0850 GMT------------------- 
Crown/Euro <EURSKK=> 36.615 vs 36.590 on Monday (-0.08 pct) 
Crown/Dollar <SKK=>  29.169 vs 29.015 (-0.53 pct) 
5-yr govt bond <SK5YT=RR> yield 4.601/4.399 vs 4.602/4.336 
8-yr govt bond <SK9YT=RR> yield 4.602/4.402 vs 4.542/4.341 
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  ((Reporting by Martin Santa; editing by Gerrard Raven; Reuters 
Messaging: martin.santa.reuters.com@reuters.net; +421 5341 
8402)) 
  Keywords: MARKETS SLOVAKIA CROWN OPEN