Slovak crown steady, mkt seen cautious over cbank

    The Slovak crown held steady 
on Wednesday after a jump in the previous session, and dealers 
said room for more near-term gains may be limited by fears of 
central bank action to prevent a fast rise in the unit. 
    The crown traded at 34.545 against the euro  as of 
0815 GMT, a touch stronger from 34.595 seen late on Tuesday. 
    "The key near-term determinants include regional moods, 
fears of a central bank action, which means the market will be 
cautious when going stronger, and comments after tomorrow's ECB 
meeting, which could shed light on rate outlook in the 
eurozone," Slovenska Sporitelna wrote in a market note. 
    The crown has gained 1.4 percent in the past week, as 
investors returned to emerging markets amid fading prospects of 
a U.S. rate hike. It rose by 0.5 percent to the euro on Tuesday. 
    The Slovak central bank rejected part of the bids in a repo 
tender on Tuesday, a strategy it had used in January to prevent 
speculative capital inflow from fuelling too fast a crown rise. 
    The market will get a next domestic impetus on Friday from 
the release of January inflation data, which will provide some 
clues on when the central bank may cut interest rates. 
------------------ MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0815 GMT ----------------- 
Crown/euro  34.545 vs 34.595 on Tuesday (+0.17 pct) 
Crown/dollar   26.600 vs 26.722 (+0.46 pct) 
5-yr govt bond  yield 4.300/150 vs 4.311/112 pct 
7-yr govt bond  yield 4.251/100 vs 4.370/121 pct 
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[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]