WARSAW, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Hungary's forint steadied on
Monday following the announcement a rescue deal had been agreed
with the IMF, although the rest of the region was mixed as
global fears continued of a deep recession.
The forint <EURHUF=>, hammered in recent weeks by investors
who have dumped Hungarian assets due fears over its dependency
on foreign lending, edged up 0.47 percent to the euro to 277.01
from Friday's local close.
The Czech crown was up 0.8 percent to 24.88 per euro,
despite the huge defeat by the ruling Civic Democrats in local
elections at the weekend that has raised questions over the
government's long-term survival [].
Hungarian dealers were on guard after weeks of heavy market
turmoil. They said it was too early to determine whether the
rescue deal from the International Monetary Fund and the
European Union, which the IMF called "a really good policy
package", would stem losses.
"The IMF deal can provide some relief to the market," a
Budapest-based trader said.
"However, when the IMF offer for help was first announced
(two weeks ago) it was received as a positive and the next day
it was already the worst news on the market, taken as a sign of
how bad things are."
There were losers in the region too. The Romanian leu was
down 1.62 percent from Friday's local close at 3.694 per euro.
Poland's zloty <EURPLN=> was 1.2 percent down at 3.871 per euro,
while Monday open to 3.8716 against the euro.
"The market is still watching global markets closely and
seeking any trend, but currencies may fall as Asian stocks have
fallen sharply," said Jan Koprowski, a dealer at BNP Paribas.
Dealers said the Czech crown would likely have low liquidity
this week due to a banking holiday on Tuesday, but the results
of the weekend elections should not have an effect on the crown
unless the government topples.
"If we look at history, we have never seen any reaction on
the crown to politics," he said. "The only thing that could
perhaps a little bit impact the crown would be the fall of the
government." he said.
----------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT-------------------------
Currency Latest Previous Local Local
close currency currency
change change
today in 2008
Czech crown <EURCZK=> 24.847 25.07 +0.89% +6.23%
Polish zloty <EURPLN=> 3.869 3.826 -1.12% -7.46%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=> 274.42 277.01 +0.93% -8.53%
Croatian kuna <EURHRK=> 7.23 7.236 +0.08% +1.32%
Romanian leu <EURRON=> 3.697 3.636 -1.68% -3.26%
Serbian dinar <EURRSD=> 84.857 84.537 -0.38% -7.73%
All data taken from Reuters at 0957 CET.
Currency percent change calculated from the daily domestic
close at 1500 GMT.
For related news and prices, click on the codes in brackets:
All emerging market news []
Spot FX rates Eastern Europe spot FX <EEFX=> Middle East
spot FX <MEFX=>
Asia spot FX <ASIAFX=> Latin America spot FX
<LATAMFX=>
Other news and reports
World central bank news [] Economic Data Guide
<ECONGUIDE>
Official rates [] Emerging Diary []
Top events [] Diaries [] Diaries Index []
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Dagmara
Leszkowicz; Editing by Victoria Main)
