Slovak crown off highs, more gains seen possible

    BRATISLAVA, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The Slovak crown eased 
against the euro on Monday as investors took profits after a 
steady rise to record highs in the past week, dealers said. 
    The Slovak unit traded at 35.690 to the euro as of 0850 GMT, 
compared with an all-time high of 35.580 on Thursday. Slovak 
markets were closed for a national holiday on Friday. 
    Slovenska Sporitelna said in a market comment it expected 
the crown to hover between 35.60-35.80 on Monday amid lack of 
possible market moving events on the agenda. 
    The crown has firmed by around 1.7 percent to the euro in 
the past week. 
    Apart from a positive mood on emerging markets, the crown 
has firmed thanks to record 9.8 percent GDP growth in the third 
quarter and comments from a central bank board member that the 
currency was moving in line with economic fundamentals. 
    Some traders said the Slovak currency could move to stronger 
levels again if investors maintained a bullish view on emerging 
markets. 
    "The psychological level of 35.500 per euro could be a 
challenge in the coming days," said Tatra Banka dealer Boris 
Somorovsky. 
----------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0850 GMT------------------- 
Crown/Euro <EURSKK=> 35.690 vs 35.630 on Thursday (-0.19 pct) 
Crown/Dollar <SKK=>  27.808 vs 28.806 (-0.01 pct) 
5-yr govt bond <SK5YT=RR> yield unchanged at 4.426/225 pct 
8-yr govt bond <SK8YT=RR> yield 4.250/099 vs 4.310/4.109 
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 ((Reporting by Martin Santa, editing by Gill Tudor; Reuters 
Messaging: martin.santa.reuters.com@reuters.net; +421 5341 
8402)) 
  Keywords: MARKETS SLOVAKIA CROWN MORNING