BUDAPEST, Jan 11 (Reuters) - The Hungarian forint firmed to a three-month high on Tuesday, bolstered by the prospect of rising interest rates, while other central European currencies were little moved. The forint , which underperformed regional peers last year, rose 0.2% to 357.70 versus the euro, testing its 200-day moving average in a year-opening rally. The currency has gained more than 3% so far in 2022. "Yesterday, the 200-day moving average of around 357.50 stopped the forint"s firming, it proved too strong ... so it could stay around the 360-level for a while" an FX trader in Budapest said. "The next big trigger for regional currencies could be the expected start of Fed rate hikes." Investors were eyeing U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell"s testimony at a Congressional hearing later in the day, looking for cues about the timing of the bank"s tightening. read more CEE currencies have started this year on a strong note as traders expect central banks to keep tightening their policies to combat inflation, although a stronger dollar could add pressure in the region. read more The Romanian leu was flat a day after the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.00%, as expected. read more "The Romanian central bank is lagging behind its regional neighbours when it comes to monetary policy," Commerzbank wrote. "However, the central bank is likely to try and dampen the depreciation of the leu as a weak currency might fuel inflation further." Elsewhere, the Czech crown was 0.05% up and trading at 24.342 per euro while the Polish zloty slid 0.03% to 4.5430. Stocks in the region rose, with Warsaw (.WIG20) leading gains by adding 1.93%. CEE MARKETS SNAPSHOT AT 1132 CET CURRENCIES Latest Previous Daily Change bid close change in 2022 EURCZK= Czech crown 24.3420 24.3540 +0.05% +2.18% EURHUF= Hungary forint 357.7000 358.4000 +0.20% +3.27% EURPLN= Polish zloty 4.5430 4.5415 -0.03% +1.06% EURRON= Romanian leu 4.9450 4.9460 +0.02% +0.06% EURHRK= Croatian kuna 7.5220 7.5255 +0.05% -0.06% EURRSD= Serbian dinar 117.5500 117.5900 +0.03% +0.03% Note: daily change calculated from 1800 CET Latest Previous Daily Change close change in 2022 .PX Prague (.PX) 1431.62 1421.2700 +0.73% N/A .BUX Budapest (.BUX) 52815.46 52416.01 +0.76% +4.13% .WIG20 Warsaw (.WIG20) 2335.21 2291.23 +1.92% +3.01% .BETI Bucharest (.BETI) 13259.57 13223.78 +0.27% +1.52% .SBITOP Ljubljana (.SBITOP) 1306.19 1292.37 +1.07% +4.04% .CRBEX Zagreb (.CRBEX) 2138.10 2140.59 -0.12% +2.83% .BELEX15 Belgrade (.BELEX15) 826.04 825.64 +0.05% +0.64% .SOFIX Sofia (.SOFIX) 646.94 648.57 -0.25% +1.77% Yield Yield Spread Daily (bid) change vs Bund change in Czech Republic spread CZ2YT=RR 2-year 3.9140 0.0050 +450bps +0bps CZ5YT=RR 5-year 3.5710 -0.0490 +394bps -5bps CZ10YT=RR 10-year 3.3050 -0.0320 +335bps -3bps Poland PL2YT=RR 2-year 3.5020 -0.0930 +409bps -9bps PL5YT=RR 5-year 4.0230 -0.0810 +439bps -9bps PL10YT=RR 10-year 4.0160 -0.0760 +406bps -7bps FORWARD 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M interbank Czech Rep 4.90 4.88 4.66 4.14 Hungary 4.99 5.15 5.13 4.25 Poland 4.01 4.27 4.21 2.69 Note: FRA quotes are for ask prices **************************************************************