Slovak crown retreats from all-time peak vs euro

BRATISLAVA, Oct 12 (Reuters) - The Slovak crown retreated on Thursday from an all-time peak against the euro hit in the previous session after some investors booked profits following the unit's three-week rally, dealers said.

The currency surged to a record high of 36.820 per euro on Wednesday, fuelled by a bullish mood in Central Europe and hopes for higher interest rates despite easing inflation.

"There was a small correction today. People took profits in the whole region ... following the recent strengthening," said Tatra Banka dealer Boris Somorovsky.

At 0850 GMT, the crown was quoted at 36.892/941 per euro <EURSKK=>, compared with 36.840 bid late on Wednesday.

The crown did not react to Thursday's release of foreign trade data, which showed a deficit of 4.4 billion crowns in August. The market has expected a gap of 2.4 billion crowns.

Traders said investors might push the crown to new highs in the coming days on expectations for further monetary tightening, and if the regional sentiment remains sound.

The central bank has tightened the key two-week repo rate by 175 basis points to 4.75 percent this year to curb inflation, which slowed to 4.6 percent on the year in September. ----------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0850 GMT------------------- Crown/Euro <EURSKK=> 36.892 vs 36.840 (-0.19 pct) on Wednesday Crown/Dollar <SKK=> 29.375 vs 29.401 (0.0) 5-yr govt bond <SK5YT=RR> yield 4.750/4.549 vs 4.600/4.298 9-yr govt bond <SK9YT=RR> yield 4.551/4.350 vs 4.569/4.368 -------------------------------------------------------------- ((Reporting by Martin Dokoupil, editing by Chris Pizzey; Reuters Messaging: martin.dokoupil.reuters.com@reuters.net; +421-2 5341 8402))

Keywords: MARKETS SLOVAKIA CROWN OPEN