* Currencies off Monday's lows after Turkish referendum
* Stocks retreat, geopolitical worries remain
* Czech crown weakest since April 6 removal of its cap
* Hopes for bigger short-term Czech crown surge have faded
(Adds rebound of Croatian stocks)
By Sandor Peto and Jason Hovet
BUDAPEST/PRAGUE, April 18 (Reuters) - Central European
currencies rebounded on Tuesday after Turkey's referendum,
removing some uncertainty in emerging markets, while Croatian
stocks surged following a cash injection to troubled Agrokor.
The Czech crown, however, eased past 26.8 against the euro,
reaching its weakest levels since the Czech central bank removed
its cap on the currency on April 6.
The forint, after touching 4-month lows at 313.81
against the euro on Monday, firmed 0.3 percent to 312.70 by 1312
GMT.
Appetite for emerging market assets in general got a lift
from the victory of the "yes" vote in the Turkish referendum,
giving more powers to President Tayyip Erdogan, but remaining
political uncertainty in Turkey and elsewhere in the world
abounds.
"There is Korea, the Turks and also the upcoming French
elections," one Budapest-based currency dealer said, adding that
jolts in the euro/dollar cross also blurred the outlook.
The market risks, including the first round of France's
two-step presidential election on April 23, could weigh on
Romania's leu, which also firmed slightly on Tuesday,
ING analysts said in a note.
"The unease is caused by the fact that some (French
presidential) candidates are vocally anti-EU," they said. The
runoff round will be on May 7.
The region's stock indices mostly retreated after an initial
rise, tracking a fall of Asian and Western European peers, with
Prague and Budapest shedding about 0.7 percent.
Zagreb's main stock index bucked the trend, jumping
2 percent.
It started to rebound last week after indebted Agrokor
, Croatia's largest private firm and the biggest
employer in the Balkan region, secured an initial cash
injection.
The stocks of builder Viadukt rose 32 percent from
their lowest levels in at least 12 years, while ice cream
producer Ledo jumped 18 percent.
The Czech crown traded at 26.72 against the euro, off an
early low at 26.812 but weaker by 0.3 percent from Monday.
The currency peaked at 26.5 last week, after the central
bank removed the cap which had kept it weaker than 27 since
2013.
The size of those gains disappointed most investors who had
bought tens of billions of euros worth of crowns, speculating on
a surge after exit from the cap.
A recent Reuters poll of analysts projected that the
strength of the Czech economy could boost the crown to 25.7 by
end-March 2018, but many analysts hoped for opportunities to
close their euro selling positions earlier, with bigger profits.
"Short position investors are waiting for 26.20. No one is
closing positions at these levels, long-term it is going (to
strengthen) so why stop it here," one Prague-based dealer said.
CEE SNAPS AT 1512
MARKETS HOT CET
CURRENCIES
Lates Previ Daily Chang
t ous e
bid close chang in
e 2017
Czech crown 26.72 26.64 -0.27 1.07%
00 80 %
Hungary 312.7 313.7 +0.3 -1.24
forint 000 100 2% %
Polish 4.232 4.251 +0.4 4.06%
zloty 0 5 6%
Romanian 4.521 4.524 +0.0 0.30%
leu 5 4 6%
Croatian 7.437 7.429 -0.10 1.59%
kuna 0 2 %
Serbian 123.5 123.6 +0.0 -0.15
dinar 400 400 8% %
Note: daily calculate previ close 1800
change d from ous at CET
STOCK
S
Lates Previ Daily Chang
t ous e
close chang in
e 2017
Prague 970.0 976.5 -0.66 +5.2
4 2 % 5%
Budapest 32370 32622 -0.77 +1.1
.94 .40 % 5%
Warsaw 2239. 2233. +0.2 +14.
71 63 7% 98%
Bucharest 8224. 8258. -0.41 +16.
47 73 % 08%
Ljubljana 778.1 778.2 -0.01 +8.4
6 4 % 4%
Zagreb 1942. 1905. +1.9 -2.62
49 29 5% %
Belgrade <.BELEX15 726.6 732.0 -0.74 +1.3
> 9 9 % 0%
Sofia 650.6 657.7 -1.09 +10.
0 9 % 94%
BONDS
Yield Yield Sprea Daily
d
(bid) chang vs chang
e Bund e in
Czech sprea
Republic d
2-year <CZ2YT=RR -0.01 0.071 +084 +6bp
> 3 bps s
5-year <CZ5YT=RR 0.271 0.009 +079 +1bp
> bps s
10-year <CZ10YT=R 1.01 -0.06 +083 -6bps
R> 5 bps
Poland
2-year <PL2YT=RR 2.005 -0.00 +285 -1bps
> 3 bps
5-year <PL5YT=RR 2.85 0.003 +337 +0bp
> bps s
10-year <PL10YT=R 3.384 -0.02 +320 -1bps
R> 3 bps
FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT
3x6 6x9 9x12 3M
inter
bank
Czech Rep < 0.3 0.3 0.37 0
PRIBOR=>
Hungary < 0.2 0.265 0.34 0.16
BUBOR=>
Poland < 1.749 1.77 1.815 1.73
WIBOR=>
Note: FRA are for
quotes ask
prices
**************************************************
************
(Additional reporting from Radu Marinas in Bucharest; Editing
by Tom Heneghan)