* Forint, leu worst-hit among CEE FX in 2019
* Crown, zloty cement 2019 gains
* Poll sees few gains, some losses in 2020
* Stocks mostly ending 2019 with strong gains
By Jason Hovet
PRAGUE, Dec 30 (Reuters) - The Czech crown firmed against
the euro on Monday to put it on course for a 1% gain in 2019
while central Europe's worst-hit currency this year, the
Hungarian forint, fell slightly to set it up for a 3% full-year
loss.
Central Europe's currencies have been mostly weighed under
for much of 2019 by risks to trade coming from a U.S.-China
dispute and worries over Britain's European Union exit.
Analysts so far expect few gains in 2020, with risks
remaining and economies in the region slowing, according to a
Reuters poll in early December.
The crown has been the best performing, rising mostly in the
final quarter of the year as the central bank debated the
potential need for rate hikes -- although it left
policy unchanged -- and as global risks eased somewhat.
On the other end, the forint has stayed under pressure as
Hungary's central bank kept the loosest policy in the region.
On the last full trading day of 2019, trends largely stayed
in place, with the forint edging down 0.05% to 330.56
to the euro by 1015 GMT. It had hit a record low 337.21 in
November.
The crown gained 0.2% to 25.455 to the euro, off
its 2019 high of 25.405.
Analysts from Czech bank CSOB said currencies' movement will
depend on how the "global weather" develops next year.
"We believe 2020 will rather mean a 'soft landing' rather
than any deepening of economic problems," they said in a note.
"On the other hand today's prices are already practically
counting on that and a number of risks and uncertainties... can
return into play like a boomerang."
They added growth will be slower than in previous years and
global growth will be at one of the slowest paces in the last
decade.
Elsewhere, the Polish zloty, which is also set to
end the year in positive territory, inched up less than 0.1% to
4.258 per euro.
Romania's leu was flat at 4.783 to the euro. Like
the forint, it has been under pressure in 2019 due to worries
over its budget deficit after a government change in the autumn.
On stock markets, indexes largely moved higher. Except for
Warsaw's blue-chip WIG20, stock markets have posted
double-digit gains this year.
In Hungary, whose BUX is up over 17% since the start
of the year, oil and gas group MOL shares were
unmoved.
Earlier, a Croatian court ruled MOL's head and Croatia's
former prime minister were guilty in a corruption case, opening
a new chapter in a legal saga that has been dragging on for
almost a decade.
Bond yields in the region also moved higher.
CEE MARKETS SNAPSHOT AT
1115 CET
CURRENCIES
Latest Previous Daily Change
bid close change in 2019
EURCZK= Czech crown 25.4550 25.5140 +0.23% +0.99%
EURHUF= Hungary forint 330.5600 330.5650 +0.00% -2.87%
EURPLN= Polish zloty 4.2580 4.2598 +0.04% +0.74%
EURRON= Romanian leu 4.7830 4.7840 +0.02% -2.70%
EURHRK= Croatian kuna 7.4495 7.4450 -0.06% -0.53%
EURRSD= Serbian dinar 117.4500 117.5500 +0.09% +0.72%
Note: daily change calculated from 1800 CET Latest Previous Daily Change
close change in 2019
.PX Prague 1115.60 1119.3300 -0.33% +13.08%
.BUX Budapest 46021.79 45984.46 +0.08% +17.59%
.WIG20 Warsaw 2156.41 2151.74 +0.22% -5.28%
.BETI Bucharest 9959.58 9948.53 +0.11% +34.89%
.SBITOP Ljubljana 927.59 924.84 +0.30% +15.33%
.CRBEX Zagreb 2024.66 2022.31 +0.12% +15.77%
.BELEX15 Belgrade 791.62 780.69 +1.40% +3.93%
.SOFIX Sofia 562.12 561.73 +0.07% -5.44%
BONDS
Yield Yield Spread Daily
(bid) change vs Bund change in
Czech Republic spread
CZ2YT=RR 2-year 1.6960 0.0610 +231bps +4bps
CZ5YT=RR 5-year 1.4260 0.0210 +191bps -2bps
CZ10YT=RR 10-year 1.6320 0.0160 +184bps -4bps
Poland
PL2YT=RR 2-year 1.4770 0.0140 +209bps -1bps
PL5YT=RR 5-year 1.8160 0.0210 +230bps -2bps
PL10YT=RR 10-year 2.1130 0.0210 +232bps -3bps
FORWARD RATE AGREEMENT
3x6 6x9 9x12 3M interbank
Czech Rep 2.28 2.28 2.30 2.18
Hungary 0.31 0.37 0.45 0.16
Poland 1.72 1.71 1.70 1.71
Note: FRA quotes are for ask prices
**************************************************************
(Reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague, Alan Charlish in Warsaw
and Krisztina Than in Budapest, Editing by William Maclean)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.