Czech crown tad lower, lacks impetus after holiday

PRAGUE, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The Czech crown inched lower against the euro in morning trade on Monday, looking to regional and global markets for direction as investors wait for a new round of political talks on a new coalition government to start.

The crown traded at 28.040 per euro <0#EURCZK=> by 0955 GMT, about 0.2 percent weaker from Thursday's domestic close. Czech markets were close on Friday for a national holiday.

Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek won the backing of his rightist Civic Democrats in a leadership vote over the weekend, giving him a strong mandate for talks on forming a government with leftist Social Democrats and two small centrist parties.

Investors are waiting for Topolanek to outline his cabinet's agenda, but analysts said the leftists will likely prevent it from making any fundamental reforms to the deficit-ridden public finances that could speed up the country's adoption of the euro.

"The chances the crown will break through the (28.00) level and stay there have risen considerably," said Ceska Sporitelna analyst Maria Feherova in a morning note to clients.

"But it may be a slow process and the crown may hover around 28.00 for a while, and even slip beyond 28.10 from time to time," she added.

The crown has shed about 0.6 percent since buoyant investor sentiment towards emerging markets and a foreign trade surplus helped it scale a record high of 27.875 per euro on Nov. 6. It is now expected to hold flat or drop slightly in the near-term.

A Reuters poll among 18 market watchers taken last week gave a median forecast of 28.20 to the euro <0#EURCZK=> for one month from now and 28.08 for the three-month outlook.

Their median forecast saw the crown re-testing all-time highs at 27.90 against the euro in six months from now, and firming further to 27.70 in a year from now <CZ/ECON07>.

----------------- MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0955 GMT ----------------- Crown/euro <EURCZK=> last deals at 28.040 (-0.21 pct)

Crown/dollar <CZK=> at 21.822 bid (-0.02 pct)

5-year yield due Oct 2010 <CZ5YT=RR> 3.47 pct bid (-1 bps) 10-year yield due Jan 2016 <CZ10YT=RR> 3.73 pct bid (flat)

5-yr CZK/EUR mid yield spread <DE114147=> -23 bps (vs -22) 10-yr CZK/EUR mid yield spread <DE113529=> 3 bps (vs 2)

Current levels versus prior domestic close at 1500 GMT ---------------------------------------------------------------

((Reporting by Marek Petrus; Editing by Chris Pizzey; Reuters Messaging: rm://marek.petrus.reuters.com@reuters.net; e-mail: prague.newsroom@reuters.com or marek.petrus@reuters.com; Tel: +420 224 190 477))

- For previous updates on Czech currency moves click on [CZK/]

--------ECONOMIC DATA RELEASES (double click to access)-------- LIVE Czech economic data releases <ECONCZ> INSTANT VIEWs on Czech economic data [CZ/INSTANT] Factors To Watch in Czech Republic [nCZECH]

---------------------------RELATED NEWS------------------------ Czech FX outlook poll [CZK/POLL] Emerging forex [EMRG/FRX] Hungary market report [FT/] Poland market report [PLN/] All emerging markets news [EMRG] CEE indicators [CONV/DIARY] All east Europe news [EEU] E.Europe equities [.CEE] TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets [TOP/EMRG] TOP NEWS -- Convergence watch [TOP/EAST] Czech indicators [CZ/ECI] Hungary indicators [HU/ECI] Slovak indicators [SK/ECI] Polish indicators [PL/ECI] --------------------LIVE PRICES & DATA------------------------- Crown Spot Against EUR <EURCZK=> Against USD <CZK=> Czech Bonds <0#CZBMK=> C.Europe Bonds <CEEBONDS> Crown FRAs <CZKFRA=TTKL> Central Bank Fixings <CNB02> Contrib. Cross Rates <CZKX1=> Czech Central Bank <CNB01> -------------------------------------------------------------- HOW TO FIND INFORMATION YOU NEED

|<REUTERS> | <NEWS> | <PHONE/HELP> |

|<EQUITY> | <BONDS>| <MONEY> | <COMMODITY> | <ENERGY> ---------------------------------------------------------------

Keywords: MARKETS CZECH CROWN MIDDAY