* Hungary, Romania, Czech GDP data beat forecasts
* Forint gets small boost
(Adds fixed income, detail)
By Dagmara Leszkowicz
WARSAW, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Emerging Europe's currencies were
little changed on Friday as better than expected growth data was
largely overshadowed by renewed risk aversion on continued
concerns about the euro, the region's reference currency.
Hungary's economy grew by 1.6 percent year-on-year in the
third quarter, beating market expectations. The Czech economy
likely expanded by 1.1 percent on a quarterly basis in the
July-September, also well above analysts' forecasts.
[] []
Romania's economy contracted by 2.5 percent on an annual
basis in the third quarter but had been expected to perform even
worse.
Dealers said the readings had a limited impact on
currencies, primarily the forint, but that the key focus for
investors remained on trimming risk. []
"The forint reacted positively to the better than expected
GDP reading," said Gergely Suppan, analyst at Takarekbank.
By 0946 GMT, Hungary's currency <EURHUF=> was 0.3 percent
stronger against the euro. The Czech crown <ERUCZK=> and
Romania's leu <EURRON=> each fell 0.1 percent.
Poland does not publish GDP data on Friday but Finance
Minister Jacek Rostowski said he expected growth in the European
Union's largest ex-communist economy to top 3.4 percent this
year and 3.7 percent in 2011.[]
Analysts polled by Reuters expect Poland's zloty <EURPLN=>
to lead the region's currency gains with a 4 percent rise in the
next 12 months, while the leu is seen firming 2 percent, the
crown 1 percent and the forint is expected to remain flat.
[]
ZLOTY SEEN UP OVER MID-TERM
The Czech, Polish, and Hungarian currencies have barely
budged since the U.S. Federal Reserve announced it would buy
$600 billion in government bonds over six months, confounding
expectations the move would extend a liquidity-fuelled rally in
the European Union's emerging east. []
Analysts say economies with strong growth and fiscal
positions will eventually benefit.
The zloty was some 0.1 percent down against the euro, off
multi-month highs hit before a national holiday on Thursday.
It had strengthened to below a key level of 3.89 to the euro
on Wednesday and dealers attributed its gains to strong foreign
investor interest.
"Despite natural flows linked to privatisation, it seems
like the market was over-optimistic when it comes to the zloty,
and those who got PLN are trying now to get rid of it," said one
Warsaw-based dealer.
A weakening of the zloty to around 3.98 cannot be ruled out
in the short term, but over the medium to longer term it should
appreciate, the dealer said, echoing comments by Rostowski
published on Friday.
The finance minister told daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna he
saw no reason for the zloty to weaken dramatically and that it
would strengthen in the medium term.
The zloty has gained some 4.0 percent since the start of the
year to around 3.93 to the euro, but is still far from levels
reached prior to the global financial crisis.
--------------------------MARKET SNAPSHOT--------------------
Currency Latest Previous Local Local
close currency currency
change change
today in 2010
Czech crown <EURCZK=> 24.609 24.59 -0.08% +6.94%
Polish zloty <EURPLN=> 3.938 3.935 -0.08% +4.22%
Hungarian forint <EURHUF=> 276.03 276.91 +0.32% -2.06%
Croatian kuna <EURHRK=> 7.379 7.371 -0.11% -0.95%
Romanian leu <EURRON=> 4.289 4.285 -0.09% -1.2%
#VALUE!
Yield Spreads
Czech treasury bonds <0#CZBMK=>
2-yr T-bond CZ2YT=RR -6 basis points to 72bps over bmk*
7-yr T-bond CZ7YT=RR -4 basis points to +90bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond CZ9YT=RR -1 basis points to +103bps over bmk*
Polish treasury bonds <0#PLBMK=>
2-yr T-bond PL2YT=RR +5 basis points to +390bps over bmk*
5-yr T-bond PL5YT=RR -1 basis points to +374bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond PL10YT=RR -1 basis points to +323bps over bmk*
Hungarian treasury bonds <0#HUBMK=>
3-yr T-bond HU3YT=RR +4 basis points to +573bps over bmk*
5-yr T-bond HU5YT=RR -2 basis points to +551bps over bmk*
10-yr T-bond HU10YT=RR +2 basis points to +474bps over bmk*
*Benchmark is German bond equivalent.
All data taken from Reuters at 1046 CET.
Currency percent change calculated from the daily domestic
close at 1600 GMT.
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(Reporting by Reuters bureaux, Writing by Dagmara
Leszkowicz; Editing by Giles Elgood, John Stonestreet)
