Slovak crown at 2-wk highs, eyes region, repo tender

    The Slovak crown firmed to a 
two-week high against the euro on Monday on the back of brighter 
mood in emerging markets, and dealers said global sentiment 
would remain its key driver ahead of Tuesday's repo tender. 
    The crown traded at 34.465 per euro  as of 1515 
GMT, a touch weaker from its two-week peak of 34.400 seen early 
in the session. The unit closed at 34.520 on Friday. 
    "The crown moves in line with global and regional trends," 
one Bratislava-based trader said. 
    The Polish zloty and Hungary's forint firmed on Monday, 
while the Czech crown slipped 0.23 percent in the session. 
    Investors now focus on the central bank's (NBS) regular 
liquidity-draining auction on Tuesday, dealers said.  
    Analysts expect the NBS to leave liquidity surplus in the 
money market for the fourth week in a row on Tuesday to fight 
the crown's strength, which it has said was not in line with 
economic fundamentals. 
    The crown gained 9.7 percent against the euro last year, 
hitting a record high of 34.050 on Dec. 28. The unit's sharp 
rise triggered a direct intervention by the NBS. 
    The currency trades 10.4 percent above the central parity 
within the Exchange Rate Mechanism 2 (ERM-2), which Slovaks 
joined in November 2005. 
----------------- MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 1515 GMT ----------------- 
 Crown/euro  34.465 vs 34.520 on Friday (+0.16 pct) 
 Crown/dollar   26.639 vs 26.685 (+0.17) 
5-yr govt bond  yield 4.350/4.150 pct 
7-yr govt bond  yield 4.400/4.200 pct 
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[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]