Slovak crown near record peak vs euro, seen weaker

    BRATISLAVA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The Slovak crown <EURSKK=> 
edged up slightly against the euro in Friday trade, hovering in 
sight of this week's record highs, and dealers expected 
investors to cut exposure modestly in the near term. 
    At 1525 GMT, the crown was quoted at 35.525 per euro 
<EURSKK=>, compared with Thursday's lifetime high of 35.444 and 
a close of 35.590. 
    "There was mixed interest with profit-taking on one side and 
new position opening on the other," said Tatra Banka dealer 
Boris Somorovsky. 
    The unit showed no reaction to news household electricity 
prices will remain flat next year, which will ease the central 
bank's fight against inflation. Distribution firms demanded a 
rise of up to 13.5 percent. 
    Rising energy costs pushed inflation up sharply this year. 
Slashing inflation is a key challenge for Slovakia's plan to 
adopt the euro in 2009. 
    Traders expected an increased market volatility in the weeks 
ahead given the traditional end-year profit taking, but added 
the crown's mid-term outlook remained bullish. 
    "It seems that the crown has strengthened a lot over the 
past few days, so there could be some position closing, but not 
too much," Somorovsky said. "Weaker levels may create good entry 
points for euro/crown shorts." 
    The crown has gained 5.3 percent against the euro over the 
past two months, buoyed by inflow of funds into central European 
assets and a record 9.8 percent GDP growth in the third quarter. 
----------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 1525 GMT------------------- 
Crown/Euro <EURSKK=> 35.525 vs 35.590 on Thursday (+0.17 pct) 
Crown/Dollar <SKK=> 26.660 vs 26.885 (+0.87 pct) 
5-yr govt bond <SK5YT=RR> yield unchanged at 4.399/4.200 pct 
8-yr govt bond <SK8YT=RR> yield 4.230/4.170 vs 4.248/4.047 pct 
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  ((Reporting by Martin Santa; writing by Martin Dokoupil, 
editing by ; Reuters Messaging: 
martin.santa.reuters.com@reuters.net; +421 2 5341 8402)) 
  Keywords: MARKETS SLOVAKIA CROWN AFTERNOON