Slovak crown rebounds from 1-wk lows vs euro

    The Slovak crown recovered on 
Friday from a one-week low against the euro hit early in the 
session, helped by news that Slovakia is close to sealing a 
major investment project and improved regional mood, dealers 
said. 
    The crown began weaker on Friday alongside other emerging 
currencies, retreating as far as 34.685 per euro, its weakest 
level since Dec. 28. It traded at 34.515  at 1635 GMT, 
compared with 34.525 late on Thursday. 
    A senior manager at a Slovak unit of South Korean Samsung 
Electronics  told Reuters in an interview talks with 
Slovakia were in the final phase and that the firm was likely to 
pick the EU member as a location for a new LCD factory. 
    The news sent the crown, the best performing currency in 
central Europe last year, to an intraday high of 34.400 per 
euro. 
    Surprisingly strong growth in U.S. jobs in December also 
supported the crown and other regional currencies, dampening 
prospects for rate cuts in the U.S. 
    "It seems there are still investors interested in the crown 
but possibility of a central bank intervention and a risk of 
profit-taking in emerging markets will play against the crown 
firming," said VUB bank dealer Laco Benedek. 
    Traders expect the crown to drift in a wider range of 
34.200-34.700 per euro in the coming days and track moves on 
bigger regional markets. 
    The central bank (NBS) intervened in the market on Dec. 28 
to knock the crown off its record high of 34.05 per euro. 
    The NBS' data showed on Friday foreign currency reserves 
jumped by $702 million to $14.096 billion in Dec. 28-Jan. 3. The 
bank has yet to reveal the size of its hard currency purchases. 
----------------- MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 1635 GMT ----------------- 
 Crown/euro  34.460 vs 34.525 on Thursday (+0.01 pct) 
 Crown/dollar   26.552 vs 26.355 (-0.59 pct) 
5-yr govt bond  yield 4.219/4.020 vs 4.299/4.101 
7-yr govt bond  yield 4.196/3.996 vs 4.206/4.005 
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[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]