Markets & Finance News

Sri Lankan shares closed at a record high on Thursday, driven by solid gains in financial stocks as equity markets reopened after a two-day holiday.

* Russian rouble hit by new COVID variant, fresh curbs (Updates with Turkey rates)

* Graphic: World FX rates https://tmsnrt.rs/2RBWI5E (Updates prices, adds Turkish lira record low, adds chart)

Hungary's forint bounced off a six-month low on Thursday after a central banker said more rate tightening than projected was needed, easing investor disappointment following a timid rate hike this week. The Hungarian central bank voted for a 15-basis-point interest rate increase on Tuesday, continuing a tightening cycle that started in June but at a slower pace. Some had bet on a stronger move, which caused the forint to weaken as they closed positions. But the forint recovered ground on Thursday, after Bloomberg news reported that central bank Deputy Governor Barnabas Virag said the bank needed to tighten monetary conditions more than projected in September. The forint traded down 0.1% on the day at 362.64 to the euro at 0959 GMT, after hitting a low of 364 earlier in the session. With policy tightening starting already around central Europe to battle an inflation spike, the region's currencies have been caught between higher rate expectations and a strong U.S. dollar that is weighing on risk appetite. The forint has been most under pressure, along with the Polish zloty. The zloty was feeling added weight on Thursday before a European Union leaders meeting in Brussels that will put Warsaw in the spotlight because of a Polish court ruling that questioned the primacy of European laws, part of an ongoing dispute that risks costing the country EU funding. The zloty eased 0.2% to 4.594 per euro. Poland's dispute with the EU has for now barred it from tapping into 57 billion euros of emergency funds to help its economy emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. "The EUR / PLN exchange rate is consolidating around the level of 4.58, awaiting, among others, the decisions on the National Recovery Plan by Brussels," Bank Millennium said. The Czech crown also dropped further beyond the 25.50 level it breached this week, amid a weakening outlook for the car sector because of the global chip shortage. Czech rate markets, though, continue to price in steep tightening for the rest of the year, following up the central bank's surprise 75 basis point hike last month, which was its biggest single upward move in 24 years. Central European stock markets were mixed in other trading, holding off record or multi-year highs hit this month amid a global rise in company shares. CEE SNAPSHO AT MARKETS T 1159 CET CURRENC IES Latest Previou Daily Change s bid close change in 2021 EURCZK Czech <EURCZK 25.5810 25.5370 -0.17% +2.53% = crown => EURHUF Hungary <EURHUF 362.640 362.285 -0.10% +0.02% = forint => 0 0 EURPLN Polish <EURPLN 4.5935 4.5858 -0.17% -0.75% = zloty => EURRON Romanian <EURRON 4.9465 4.9463 -0.00% -1.65% = leu => EURHRK Croatian <EURHRK 7.5100 7.5083 -0.02% +0.50% = kuna => EURRSD Serbian <EURRSD 117.520 117.550 +0.03% +0.04% = dinar => 0 0 Note: calcula 1800 daily ted CET change from STOCKS Latest Previou Daily Change s close change in 2021 .PX Prague 1341.17 1345.16 -0.30% +30.57 00 % .BUX Budapest 54610.5 54393.6 +0.40% +29.69 0 3 % .WIG20 Warsaw <.WIG20 2426.89 2443.11 -0.66% +22.32 > % .BETI Buchares 12813.4 12750.3 +0.50% +30.67 t 5 0 % .SBITO Ljubljan <.SBITO 1185.12 1186.07 -0.08% +31.56 P a P> % .CRBEX Zagreb <.CRBEX 2054.10 2049.78 +0.21% +18.10 > % .BELEX Belgrade <.BELEX 788.10 791.01 -0.37% +5.28% 15 15> .SOFIX Sofia <.SOFIX 571.95 572.66 -0.12% +27.80 > % BONDS Yield Yield Spread Daily (bid) change vs Bund change in Czech spread Republic CZ2YT= 2-year <CZ2YT= 2.6870 0.0520 +334bp +5bps RR RR> s CZ5YT= 5-year <CZ5YT= 2.6040 -0.0190 +307bp -3bps RR RR> s CZ10YT <CZ10YT 2.5690 0.0280 +269bp +3bps =RR 10-year =RR> s Poland PL2YT= 2-year <PL2YT= 1.7690 -0.0080 +242bp -1bps RR RR> s PL5YT= 5-year <PL5YT= 2.2660 0.0130 +273bp +0bps RR RR> s PL10YT <PL10YT 2.7260 0.0110 +285bp +1bps =RR 10-year =RR> s FRA 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M interba nk Czech <CZKFRA 3.25 3.50 3.57 2.09 Rep ><PRIBO R=> Hungary <HUFFRA 2.54 2.93 3.24 1.98 ><BUBOR => Poland <PLNFRA 1.57 1.98 2.35 0.70 ><WIBOR => Note: FRA quotes are for ask prices *********************************** *************************** (Reporting by Jason Hovet in Prague, Anita Komuves in Budapest, and Alan Charlish in Warsaw; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

World stocks slipped on Thursday as the upbeat mood that carried the Dow Jones and bitcoin to records a day earlier ran out of steam, while a pause in the oil rally stalled rising global bond yields.

* Evergrande secures 3+ mth extension on Jumbo Fortune Bond -REDD

The Australian and New Zealand dollars slipped from highs hit overnight, and the dollar eased versus the yen on Thursday, in what analysts said was profit-taking following a strong rally.

Most emerging market stocks and currencies fell on Thursday as concerns over inflation dented sentiment, with Turkey's lira leading losses amid uncertainty over a central bank meeting later in the day.

Stocks and the currency of Indonesia, the world's top thermal coal exporter, fell on Thursday as China coal futures plunged amid signs of Beijing's intervention, while Malaysian shares eased 1% after news of U.S. regulatory action on a glove maker. Asian currencies and stocks were broadly weaker, with South Korea's won declining 0.3%, followed by Singapore's dollar and the Thai baht. Their equities traded flat to lower. The mood has been sombre after debt-laden China Evergrande Group's deal to sell a stake in its property services unit fell through this week, reviving concerns about a crisis at the country's high-yield real estate sector. Evergrande has, however, secured an extension on a defaulted bond, financial provider REDD reported, but the grace period on one of its coupon payments expires this weekend. Resuming trade after a holiday, Indonesia's rupiah fell 0.5%, as China's thermal coal futures extended losses since Tuesday when Beijing signalled it might intervene to cool soaring coal prices. Jakarta shares slipped with energy stocks leading the decline. High coal prices this year have boosted Indonesia's trade balance and supported the currency, which has risen 3.5% since July. Equities have also been trading close to a record high. "Rupiah has strengthened quite a bit and it's giving back some gains. The coal situation is more of an excuse to reduce long rupiah positions," Bank of Singapore FX analyst Moh Siong Sim said. Bank Indonesia does not want the currency to appreciate too much and long-term equity inflows could potentially offset the hit from a drop in coal prices, he added. Malaysian equities marked their worst day in three weeks as glove makers skid after the United States barred imports from Supermax Corp over alleged forced labour practices. While Supermax is not part of the benchmark, the news triggered a 3.9% drop in Top Glove Corp, the world's biggest latex glove maker that faced a similar ban last year, and 2.6% decline in Hartalega Holdings. Supermax plunged 11%. HIGHLIGHTS ** Thailand's 10-year government bond yields are down 3 basis points at 2.06%​​ ** Singapore's 5-year benchmark yield is down 3.60 basis points at 1.216% ** Top losers on the Singapore STI include: Singapore Airlines Ltd , down 2.2%, and Jardine Cycle & Carriage Ltd, down 1.5% Asia stock indexes and currencies at 0737 GMT COUNTRY FX RIC FX DAILY % FX YTD % INDEX STOCKS STOCKS DAILY % YTD % Japan +0.17 -9.49 -1.87 4.61 China -0.07 +2.04 0.22 3.50 India +0.08 -2.33 -0.64 29.82 Indonesia -0.51 -0.74 -0.58 10.67 Malaysia +0.05 -3.32 -0.91 -2.18 Philippines -0.05 -5.48 0.20 2.41 S.Korea -0.25 -7.73 -0.19 4.66 Singapore -0.08 -1.76 -0.16 12.27 Taiwan +0.09 +2.14 0.01 14.64 Thailand -0.18 -10.30 0.22 13.23 (Reporting by Anushka Trivedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

Investors became overwhelmingly bullish on the Indonesian rupiah as the country's growth prospects improved in tandem with surging commodity prices, while sentiment on the Chinese yuan became positive again, a Reuters survey showed on Thursday.