Slovak crown nears 5-wk lows on weak investor mood

    The Slovak crown eased 0.5 
percent against the euro on Wednesday, approaching five-week 
lows seen last week, as investors moved out of central European 
assets, traders said. 
    The crown was trading at 35.025 to the euro  at 
1620 GMT, in sight of a five-week low of 35.115 seen on Jan. 17. 
It stood at 34.835 late on Tuesday. 
    "London banks were buying euros. If the crown breaks an 
important 35.100 per euro level, it might weaken toward 
35.400/500 per euro," said Tatra Banka dealer Boris Somorovsky. 
    The Slovak unit is the biggest regional loser this week, 
falling by 1.6 percent against the euro. Dealers said more crown 
losses were likely if the Polish zloty weakens above the 3.91 
per euro level . 
    The crown gained 9.7 percent versus the euro last year, 
hitting a record high of 34.050 per euro on Dec. 28. But central 
bank (NBS) actions helped to weaken it in recent weeks. 
    NBS Governor Ivan Sramko echoed the bank's recent comments 
on Wednesday, saying the bank still thought the crown should 
move more in line with economic developments. 
    The crown trades 8.9 percent above the central parity within 
the Exchange Rate Mechanism 2 (ERM-2), which Slovakia joined in 
November 2005. 
----------------- MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 1620 GMT ----------------- 
 Crown/euro  35.025 vs 34.835 on Tuesday (-0.53 pct) 
 Crown/dollar   26.025 vs 26.714 (-1.15) 
5-yr govt bond  yield 4.302/4.102 vs 4.350/4.150 pct 
7-yr govt bond  yield 4.342/4.092 vs 4.400/4.200 pct 
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[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]