(Adds rate-cut, quote on forint, fresh FX table and numbers)

BUDAPEST, June 18 (Reuters) - The forint firmed on

Tuesday, rebounding from a three-month low it hit last week,

after Hungary's central bank cut its policy rate as expected,

delivering the smallest cut in its 14-month-old easing cycle.

The National Bank of Hungary (NBH), which began easing its

base interest rate in October, cut a further 25 basis points off

the current 7.25% on Tuesday to 7.0%.

By 1214 GMT, the Hungarian forint firmed to 395.15

against the euro, pulling further away from its weakest level,

hit at the end of last week, since mid March.

"We got what we expected," a local trader said. "The bank's

communication at its presser will probably influence the forint

more. If they repeat that they don't plan to cut further this

year, that will be supportive for the currency."

Hungary's central bank will issue a statement at 1400 GMT,

with the press briefing also likely starting at the same time.

Monday's session gave some respite to the region's

currencies, after the strengthening of the dollar this month,

supported last week by a more hawkish U.S. Federal Reserve and

the fallout of European Parliament elections that pressured

riskier assets, including Central European currencies.

The Polish zloty firmed 0.1% against the euro to

4.35, also largely keeping the previous day's gains after

hitting its weakest level since late January on Friday.

"Yesterday's trading on the local FX suggests that the

domestic currency (zloty) should now be less sensitive to

negative external signals," Poland's state-owned development

bank BGK wrote in a note.

"Today, we expect a relatively calm session in the range of

PLN 4.34-4.36 per euro."

The Czech crown traded 0.2% lower at 24.7710, remaining

anchored around stronger levels, with market focus turned toward

the Czech central bank rate meeting next week at which

policymakers are expected to slow rate cuts.

Czech central bank Vice-Governor Eva Zamrazilova said in a

Reuters interview on Monday that she would decide between a 25

bps and 50 bps interest rate cut, after assessing the effects of

a firmer crown versus still strong growth in services prices.

CSOB said the crown was staying stuck around the 24.70 per

euro level.

"Producer price data released (on Monday) did not surprise

and generally confirmed the disinflationary tendencies in the

domestic economy," CSOB said.

"This is good news for the central bank towards further

easing of monetary policy... Uncertainty about the June vote is

high, but we still cautiously lean toward a 25 bp rate cut."

CEE SNAPSHO AT

MARKETS T 1414 CET

CURRENC

IES

Latest Previous Daily Change

bid close change in 2024

EURCZK= Czech EURHUF= Hungary 0

EURPLN= Polish EURRON= Romania Note: calculat 1800

daily ed from CET

change

Latest Previous Daily Change

close change in 2024

.PX Prague 1529.10 1521.840 +0.48% +8.14%

0

.BUX Budapes 69850.4 69711.91 +0.20% +15.23

t 7 %

.WIG20 Warsaw 2463.85 2458.79 +0.21% +5.16%

.BETI Buchare 18009.0 17879.99 +0.72% +17.16

st 7 %

Spread Daily

vs Bund change

in

Czech spread

Republi

c

CZ2YT=R s

CZ5YT=R s

CZ10YT= s

Poland

PL2YT=R s

PL5YT=R s

PL10YT= s

Note: are for

FRA ask

quotes prices

**************************

**************************

**********

(Reporting by Karol Badohal in Warsaw and Boldizsar Gyori in

Budapest; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)