Slovak crown near record highs, seen quiet

    The Slovak crown held steady 
in early trade on Thursday and dealers said it would continue to 
hover near all-time highs to the euro it hit on Wednesday. 
    The Slovak currency was quoted at 34.600 to the euro 
 as of 0855 GMT, little changed from 34.605 late on 
Wednesday and in sight of the record of 34.580 per euro. 
    "The crown is likely to track regional moves," said 
Slovenska Sporitelna dealer Vladimir Gajdos. "Liquidity is low 
and investor interest won't be strong too." 
    The unit firmed 0.8 percent on Wednesday driven by the 
upbeat of regional mood which offset central bank's verdict to 
keep interest rates steady at 4.75 percent for a third month in 
a row, due crown's past month's sharp rally. 
    The Slovak currency has firmed 5.8 percent over the past two 
months driven by bullish sentiment on emerging markets, record 
economic growth and rising prospects of meeting euro entry 
criteria in early 2008 as planned. 
    The strong crown has helped the central bank in its fight 
against inflation by effectively tightening monetary conditions. 
    The crown, the best performing currency in central Europe 
this year, is now trading 10 percent above its central parity 
rate within the Exchange Rate Mechanism 2 (ERM 2), the precursor 
to the euro that Slovakia entered in November 2005. 
----------------MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0855 GMT------------------- 
Crown/Euro  34.600 vs 34.605 on Tuesday (+0.01 pct) 
Crown/Dollar  26.168 vs 26.248 (+0.30 pct) 
5-yr govt bond  yield unchanged at 4.350/4.151 
8-yr govt bond  yield 4.338/4.139 pct vs 4.267/4.067 
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[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]