WARSAW, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Central European currencies
largely drifted weaker and most stocks sagged on Friday, with
global sentiment weak, although the Czech crown held near a more
than 1-1/2 year high on bets the central bank could speed up
rate hikes.
The crown hit its highest since February 2020 - when the
COVID-19 pandemic first started rattling markets - on Thursday
after data showed a jump in producer prices and hawkish comments
from a central banker.
CSOB said comments on Thursday from Czech central bank
Vice-Governor Marek Mora - who said in an interview with
Bloomberg that odds were moving closer to a stronger 50 basis
point rate hike at the next policy meeting this month - raised
chances the bank could opt for a steeper rate hike.
But the crown would still be caught in global trading moods
until more central bankers possibly comment, it said.
"Markets will be watching the outcome of the U.S. Fed
meeting (next week) and also German elections (in September),"
CSOB said.
The crown was up 0.1% at 25.304 to the euro at
0844 GMT.
The Hungarian forint was steady at 351.170 to the
euro. The Polish zloty was at 4.582 to the euro.
The zloty has lagged peers as Poland"s central bank keeps
policy loose despite inflation hitting a two-decade high.
Analysts expected the zloty to stabilize, despite
uncertainty over interest rates and the EU"s delay on approving
recovery funds.
"We assume the Polish currency to be stable after the last
two days...but local factors will still have a negative impact,"
Bank Millenium said in a note.
In June, the Czech and Hungarian central banks became the
first in the European Union to raise interest rates to tame
price pressures coming as economies recover from the pandemic.
The Czech bank has debated whether faster rate increases,
something markets are betting on.
In stock markets, central European indices were mixed, with
Prague leading gains at 1306.53 while Warsaw
dropped 0.26% and rising by 0.07% at 0855 GMT.
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