Slovak crown softer vs euro, awaits c.bank meeting

...levels ahead of the central bank's (NBS) Wednesday policy meeting.

At 0830 GMT, the crown traded at 34.940 per euro , a touch weaker from 34.900 late on Monday. The unit touched a record high of 34.620 last week, but bounced back following the NBS' remarks that its rise was too fast.

"There are external factors influencing the crown," said a trader with a foreign bank in Bratislava. "The crown has room to go weaker."

The crown lost 0.9 percent against the euro following the NBS' verbal intervention, but it is still 4.7 percent stronger than a month ago.

All analysts polled by Reuters forecast that the NBS' key two-week repo rate will stay at 4.75 percent in December, as the strong currency has tightened monetary conditions.

The crown has gained 7.3 percent against the euro over the past three months, buoyed by a bullish mood in central Europe and Slovakia's record economic growth in the third quarter. ----------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0830 GMT------------------- Crown/Euro 34.940 vs 34.900 on Monday (-0.09 pct) Crown/Dollar 26.590 vs 26.690 (+0.39) 5-yr govt bond yield unchanged at 4.300/4.100 pct 8-yr govt bond yield 4.242/4.081 vs 4.248/4.048 pct --------------------------------------------------------------

[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]