WARSAW, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Prague stocks powered to

their highest level in over 16 years on Friday while central

Europe's currencies pulled away from weaker levels seen earlier

this week.

Stock markets in central Europe, except for Warsaw,

have climbed 13% to 23% so far in 2024 and some - like Budapest

and Bucharest - have hit all-time highs,

following other bourses in Europe that have reached new peaks.

Prague shares, which lean heavily toward dividend stocks,

were led higher by Czech lender Moneta Money Bank,

which rose as much as 2.5% and hit an all-time high after

management proposed paying an extraordinary dividend.

"Bank (stocks) are supporting the index as some are on their

all-time high or close to that," said Milan Vanicek, an analyst

at J&T Banka.

"That is because they are doing well and sharing it with

their shareholders as we see at Moneta with its extra dividend."

The Czech crown inched up 0.1% against the euro to

25.2010 by 0952 GMT, at its strongest level this month.

The Hungarian forint was also 0.1% higher against

the euro at 399.85, trading on the stronger side of the

psychologically important level of 400, ahead of the National

Bank of Hungary (NBH) rate-setting meeting next Tuesday.

Hungary's central bank is widely expected to pause rate cuts

at 6.5% despite inflation hitting its 3% target for

the first time since 2021 after recent falls in the forint

raised fears of a rebound in price growth.

The forint firmed past 400 also in the previous session

after Deputy Central Bank Governor Barnabas Virag said that the

bank may pause its rate cuts not only this month, but the base

rate could remain at its current level for a longer time if

warranted by external risks and the inflation outlook. It then

slipped back past the psychological level.

"It's already almost certain that a rate cut is not on the

table, but we could hear more details on how long the pause in

the cutting cycle may be," ING wrote in a note.

In Poland, the zloty firmed 0.2% to 4.3080, making

up for some of its losses from a day earlier when it hit its

weakest level in over a week, but it continued to trade on the

weaker side of the 4.30 psychological level.

"In the coming hours we see potential for stabilization of

EURPLN quotes. However, the pair will probably remain slightly

above the level of 4.30," Poland's state-owned development bank

BGK said in a note.

CEE SNAPSHOT AT

MARKETS 1152 CET

CURRENCI

ES

Latest Previous Daily Change

trade close change in 2024

Czech Hungary Polish Romanian Serbian Note: calculated from 1800 CET

daily

change

Latest Previous Daily Change

close change in 2024

Prague 1619.66 1612.970 +0.41% +14.54%

0

Budapest 74781.77 74127.83 +0.88% +23.36%

Warsaw 2308.75 2283.98 +1.08% -1.46%

Bucharest 17431.41 17445.58 -0.08% +13.40%

Spread Daily

vs Bund change

in

Czech spread

Republic

2-year 5-year 10-year Poland

2-year 5-year 10-year FORWARD

3x6 6x9 9x12 3M

interban

k

Czech Rep 3.80 3.51 3.32 4.13

Hungary 6.31 6.03 5.81 6.37

Poland 5.78 5.44 4.99 5.85

Note: FRA are for ask prices

quotes

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