Slovak crown ends touch stronger, seen eyeing region

    BRATISLAVA, Nov 23 (Reuters) - The Slovak crown closed a 
touch stronger against the euro in thin trade on Thursday, and 
dealers said it would probably stay in a narrow range tracking 
the neighbouring currencies in the coming days. 
    The crown eased as far as 35.700/740 per euro early in the 
session, but rebounded later on to close at 35.645 <EURSKK=>. It 
stood at 35.670 late on Wednesday. 
    "It seems the crown could float between 35.500 and 35.750 to 
the euro," said Tatra Banka dealer Boris Somorovsky. "The crown 
could only break 35.750 if the Polish zloty or Hungary's forint 
weaken." 
    Earlier this week, the Slovak currency surged to a record 
high of 35.495 per euro, propelled by a bullish mood in central 
Europe and Slovakia's record economic growth. But a wave of 
profit taking has knocked it to softer levels, traders said. 
    A next domestic impulse for the crown might come from the 
central bank's monthly monetary policy meeting on Nov. 28. 
    The majority of analysts polled by Reuters predicted the 
policymakers would keep the key interest rate unchanged at 4.75 
percent for the second month in a row. 
    Analysts said, however, a rate hike may still come in 
December. The central bank has tightened monetary screws by 175 
basis points this year to curb inflation. 
    The crown is now trading 7.9 percent above its central 
parity within the Exchange Rate Mechanism 2 (ERM 2), which 
Slovakia joined in late November 2005. 
----------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 1615 GMT------------------- 
Crown/Euro <EURSKK=> 35.645 vs 35.670 on Wednesday (+0.07 pct) 
Crown/Dollar <SKK=>  27.513 vs 27.557 (+0.16 pct) 
3-yr govt bond <SK5YT=RR> yield unchanged at 4.374/4.176 pct 
8-yr govt bond <SK8YT=RR> yield 4.357/157 vs 4.309/4.109 pct 
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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 CLOSE