Slovak crown dips with region, seen in range

    BRATISLAVA, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The Slovak crown <EURSKK=> 
weakened in early Tuesday trade, tracking a bearish regional 
tone which dealers said would be key to the local currency's  
near-term direction. 
    Regional sentiment soured after anti-government riots in 
Hungary, triggered by the leak of a tape on Sunday in which the 
prime minister urged his party to adopt economic reforms after 
lying to voters for years to win April's general elections. 
    At 0755 GMT the Slovak crown traded at 37.480 against the 
euro, down from 37.430 late on Monday. 
    "The crown will be driven by regional developments. The 
unit's trading range of 37.300-37.500 per euro remains: the 
crown would attack the 37.500 per euro level only in case of the 
zloty's or forint's collapse," said Tatra Banka dealer Boris 
Somorovsky. 
    The crown had firmed in the past week to touch five-week 
highs, fuelled by general recovery on emerging markets, and 
dealers expect investors' interest in local currencies to 
persist in the coming weeks, despite mixed sentiment. 
    Domestic factors could influence the currency later in the 
week once the government unveils more details from the 2007 
state budget outline, which is in the final phase of 
preparation. 
    Prime Minister Robert Fico's leftist government approved a 
public finances gap of 3.0 percent of GDP, matching the fiscal 
deficit threshold for entering the euro zone, but investors 
still worry about whether Slovakia will stay on track to adopt 
the euro in 2009. 
----------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0755 GMT------------------- 
Crown/Euro <EURSKK=> 37.480 vs 37.430 (-0.14 pct) on Monday 
Crown/Dollar <SKK=>  29.536 vs 29.498 (-0.16 pct) 
5-yr govt bond <SK5YT=RR> yield 5.050/4.851 vs 5.045/4.736 
9-yr govt bond <SK9YT=RR> yield 4.850/4.649 vs 4.925/4.726 
-------------------------------------------------------------- 
 ((Reporting by Martin Santa, editing by Ruth Pitchford; 
martin.santa@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: 
martin.santa.reuters.com@reuters.net; +421-2 5341 8402)) 
  Keywords: MARKETS SLOVAKIA CROWN OPEN