BUDAPEST: Central European currencies gave up some of their recent gains on Wednesday while government bonds firmed slightly as an equities rebound driven by global trends also lost some steam.
Regional stock indices tracked a continuing strengthening in Asian shares after Wall Street was boosted by earnings reports from some US companies.
Optimism was tempered by clouds over the German economy, the region’s key trade partner, and a cautious retreat for German shares after two days of gains.
Budapest’s main stock index rose by a third of a percent by 0850 GMT, set a four-month high and tested five-month peaks, with OTP Bank and drugmaker Richter shares hovering near key technical levels.
OTP has been driven back several times from the 10,300 forint levels in the past months, while Richter has struggled to break through the 5,400 forint line, Erste analysts wrote.
Bucharest shed 0.1 percent after getting close to a five-month high in early trade.
Warsaw’s blue-chip index rose half a percent, returning to levels last seen before it dropped to three-month lows a week ago as global stocks were plunging.
Currencies and government bond yields failed to receive support from Polish industrial output data for September, which came in weaker than expected.
Annual output growth slowed to 2.8 percent from 5 percent in August, below analysts’ 4.3 percent forecast.
Wage and employment figures released on Tuesday also confirmed a slowdown in Poland’s robust economic growth, analysts said.
The zloty led a retreat of regional currencies after a rise in the previous three sessions, easing by 0.2 percent to 4.2935 versus the euro. The forint and the Czech crown shed 0.1 percent.
“I would say the figures did not influence the zloty,” one Warsaw-based dealer said. “It is in very narrow ranges … and it is firmer than last week’s levels beyond 4.3.”
The latest Polish economic figures confirmed that the central bank is unlikely to change its loose policy stance any time soon.
The trend shown by a 2.9 percent rise in Polish producer prices in September suggests “limited space for increase of inflationary pressure”, Erste Group analyst Katarzyna Rzentarzewska said in a note.
But Poland’s economic growth, which earned a credit rating upgrade from Standard & Poor’s last Friday, is expected to remain strong.
The World Bank on Wednesday increased its forecast for Poland’s growth this year to 4.7 percent from 4.2 percent.
The data was supportive for Polish government bonds.
The yield on 10-year paper shed 1 basis point to 3.192 percent by 0923 GMT, in line with a drop in the corresponding Bund yield, after euro zone inflation figures matched expectations.
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Source: Brecorder
