* Polish leaders to hold news conference at 0900 GMT * Zloty firms, Polish stocks touch eight-month high By Sandor Peto BUDAPEST, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The zloty tested 5-week highs against the euro and Polish stocks touched an 8-month high on Wednesday ahead of a news conference by top ruling party leaders likely to address the political crisis over the rule of law in Poland. Central Europe's healthy long-term economic growth prospects have been supporting assets in the region as the end of the year approaches, but domestic political issues have weighed on sentiment in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. The Polish parliament lifted a temporary ban on media access on Tuesday, which has been triggering protests, but the measure did not defuse the crisis as the opposition said the government would need to do more for democracy. Ruling party Law and Justice (PiS) leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski will hold a news conference at 0900 GMT, along with Prime Minister Beata Szydlo and parliament speakers. The zloty firmed 0.1 percent to 4.4045 against 6the euro by 0821 GMT and Polish government bond yields dropped 1-2 basis points, with the 10-year paper bid trading at 3.43 percent. The Warsaw stock exchange's bluechip index touched an 8-month high in the second session in a row. The leu also firmed, but Romanian government bonds eased a shade. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has invited political parties for talks on a new government, with the leftist Social Democrat Party, the winner of elections held on Dec. 11, expected to propose a prime minister candidate. The president signalled earlier that he would not accept PSD leader Liviu Dragnea as a prime minister candidate because convicted earlier this year for rigging a 2012 referendum for which he received a suspended jail sentence. Bulgaria faces early elections next spring as talks to form a new government under the mandate of a small right-wing party failed on Tuesday. Bulgarian stocks firmed a quarter of a percent. CEE SNAP AT 0921 MARKETS SHOT CET CURRENCIES Late Prev Dail Chan st ious y ge bid clos chan in e ge 2016 Czech <EURCZK 27.0 27.0 +0. -0.0 crown => 200 245 02% 8% Hungary <EURHUF 310. 310. +0. 1.33 forint => 5000 7250 07% % Polish <EURPLN 4.40 4.40 +0. -3.3 zloty => 45 77 07% 3% Romanian <EURRON 4.51 4.51 +0. 0.11 leu => 40 67 06% % Croatian <EURHRK 7.53 7.53 +0. 1.42 kuna => 20 35 02% % Serbian <EURRSD 123. 123. +0. -1.6 dinar => 4700 6100 11% 2% Note: calcula prev clos 1800 daily ted ious e at CET change from STOC KS Late Prev Dail Chan st ious y ge clos chan in e ge 2016 Prague 918. 917. +0. -3.9 56 48 12% 5% Budapest 3178 3171 +0. +32 8.83 3.50 24% .89% Warsaw <.WIG20 1944 1940 +0. +4. > .29 .46 20% 58% Buchares 7011 7022 -0.1 +0. t .50 .02 5% 10% Ljubljan <.SBITO 702. 701. +0. +0. a P> 99 46 22% 98% Zagreb <.CRBEX 1968 1970 -0.1 +16 > .55 .48 0% .51% Sofia <.SOFIX 574. 573. +0. +24 > 88 46 25% .73% BOND S Yiel Yiel Spre Dail d d ad y (bid chan vs chan ) ge Bund ge in Czech spre Republic ad 2-year <CZ2YT= -1.0 -0.0 -028 -6bp RR> 64 64 bps s 5-year <CZ5YT= -0.1 0.02 +03 +3b RR> 87 6 1bps ps <CZ10YT 0.49 0.00 +02 +3b 10-year =RR> 8 9 5bps ps Poland 2-year <PL2YT= 1.99 -0.0 +27 +0b RR> 7 03 8bps ps 5-year <PL5YT= 2.74 -0.0 +32 -1bp RR> 3 16 4bps s <PL10YT 3.44 -0.0 +31 +1b 10-year =RR> 1 06 9bps ps FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M inte rban k Czech <CZKFRA 0.28 0.24 0.22 0 Rep ><PRIBO R=> Hungary <HUFFRA 0.36 0.39 0.47 0.39 ><BUBOR => Poland <PLNFRA 1.75 1.77 1.8 1.73 ><WIBOR => Note: are for FRA ask quotes prices ***************************************** ********************* (Additional reporting by Jakub Iglewski in Warsaw)