BUDAPEST, Dec 8 (Reuters) - The Czech crown bucked pressures
that pushed Emerging European currencies weaker on Wednesday,
with the Polish zloty and Hungary's forint easing on euro zone
debt worries and other currencies little changed.
The zloty <EURPLN=> and the forint <EURHUF=> each shed 0.6
percent from late Tuesday levels by 0819 GMT. The Romanian leu
<EURRON=> dipped 0.1 percent, while the Czech crown <EURCZK=>,
the safe haven currency of the region, added 0.1 percent.
"Concerns over the euro zone crisis are mounting again...
which is negative for the zloty," said Lutz Karpowitz, FX
analyst at Commerzbank.
"There are no domestic factors that could push the zloty
lower," he said, adding that external pressure and low liquidity
were probably behind the steeper swings in the unit.
The Czech crown, however, remained in positive territory,
with relatively strong economic fundamentals giving some support
to the region's safe-haven currency.
Hungarian dealers said there were no domestic factors at
play in Budapest either and the forint was likely to tag along
with the zloty after a couple of days of volatile trade on a
two-notch ratings downgrade by Moody's and a budget vote.
"We'll probably move in a tight range between 278 and 280 to
the euro, barring major drama," one dealer said.
Hungary's government on Wednesday said the country's economy
may grow by more than its previous estimate of 3 percent next
year on the back of stronger industrial production and exports.
A top Economy Ministry official said the country would stick
to its deficit target below the European Union's ceiling at 3
percent of gross domestic product, and will honour that ceiling
in 2012 as well. []
Parliament approved the key figures of the 2011 budget on
Tuesday, a day after rating agency Moody's downgraded Hungary's
debt to the lowest investment-grade level.
"Most market players expect another downgrade from Fitch, by
which the rating agency would match the rating levels of
Moody's and S&P," CIB Bank said in a morning note on Wednesday.
The National Bank of Hungary publishes the minutes of its
November 29 rate meeting later on Wednesday, which investors eye
carefully for clues about last month's surprise rate rise -- the
first after a six-month period of steady rates.
The central bank said it raised rates because of a higher
inflation path ahead, and said it would look at further data to
see when it would hike again.
A Reuters poll of 17 analysts put November inflation, due
out on Friday, flat at 4.2 pct. []
Romania's parliament approved IMF-backed pension reforms on
Tuesday, improving its chances of keeping a vital 20 billion
euro international bailout on track. []
However, dealers said pension reform approval had little
bearing on the leu currency, as the government still faces a
time consuming potential no confidence vote over other
IMF-backed reforms and its budget plan for 2011.
The government is expected to survive another no confidence
vote, but political noise would cancel out potential currency
gains, dealers said.
--------------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT--------------------
Currency Latest Previous Local Local
close currency currency
change change
today in 2010
Czech crown <EURCZK=> 25.093 25.111 +0.07% +4.88%
Polish zloty <EURPLN=> 4.043 4.017 -0.64% +1.51%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=> 279.03 277.43 -0.57% -3.11%
Croatian kuna <EURHRK=> 7.38 7.381 +0.01% -0.96%
Romanian leu <EURRON=> 4.299 4.294 -0.12% -1.43%
Serbian dinar <EURRSD=> 107.2 107.21 +0.01% -10.56%
All data taken from Reuters at 0919 CET.
Currency percent change calculated from the daily domestic
close at 1700 GMT.
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(Reporting by Reuters bureaux, writing by Marton Dunai;
Editing by Toby Chopra)
