(Adds Poland interest rate decision, analyst comment, updates

prices)

WARSAW, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The zloty edged up on

Wednesday as Poland's central bank kept rates on hold as

expected, while other Central Eastern European currencies traded

steady.

The Polish Monetary Policy Council (MPC) extended its

pause, as forecast by all analysts in a Reuters poll, with

attention turning to National Bank of Poland (NBP) Governor Adam

Glapinski's Thursday press conference for clues on the rates

path.

He has flagged earlier that discussions on resuming rate

cuts could start after the NBP's next inflation projection in

March.

At 1442 GMT the Polish zloty traded 0.18%

higher to the euro at 4.2835, nearing its strongest level since

early October.

"The MPC will cut interest rates later than other

central banks. Consensus sees the first cuts only in Q2 2025,

along with a decline in inflation. Economists predict that the

CPI will slowly start to return to the inflation target," Polish

Economic Institute analysts wrote on X.

In earlier comments, PKO BP analysts pointed to

developments since the last rate-setting meeting, including

Poland's decision to extend an energy price cap into 2025, as

well as weak private consumption data and the zloty's recovery

since the Nov. 5 U.S. elections.

"In our opinion, the arguments for a rate cut are growing,"

they wrote.

The Czech crown was 0.06% lower against the

euro at 25.1870, after hitting its strongest level since late

September at 25.11 in early trading.

The Czech National Bank (CNB) is very likely to pause

interest rate cuts soon, opting for stability and assessing new

forecasts with the aim of lowering core inflation in the future

to slightly below 2%, Governor Ales Michl said.

The central bank has cut rates at consecutive meetings since

December 2023, taking its key rate to 4.00% from a more than

two-decade high of 7.00%.

"Czech Governor Michl's comments were actually in line with

his previous statements, as Governor Michl belongs to that part

of the CNB Board which adopted a cautious approach to further

interest rate cuts," Radomir Jac, chief economist at Generali

Investments CEE, said.

Czech wage data for the third quarter released on Wednesday

"support the case of a pause in the cycle of rate cuts at the

CNB's upcoming monetary policy meeting on December 19", he said,

adding he expected a resumption of easing in the first quarter

of 2025 with a 25 basis point cut in each quarter of next year.

"Today's news - wage statistics and Governor Michl's

comments - can be seen as factors, which contributed to further

slight CZK gains this morning," Jac said.

In Hungary, the forint inched 0.1% higher against

the euro, trading at 414.10, off of its weakest level since

December 2022, having fallen last week after credit rating

agency Moody's revised the country's outlook to "negative" from

"stable".

CEE SNAPSHOT AT

MARKETS 1542 CET

CURRENCI

ES

Latest Previous Daily Change

trade close change in 2024

Czech 25.1870 25.1715 -0.06% -1.93%

crown

Hungary 414.1000 414.5200 +0.10% -7.47%

forint

Polish 4.2835 4.2913 +0.18% +1.42%

zloty

Romanian 4.9773 4.9773 +0.00% -0.06%

leu

Serbian 116.8800 116.9600 +0.07% +0.31%

dinar

Note: calculated from 1800 CET

daily

change

Latest Previous Daily Change

close change in 2024

Prague 1705.42 1707.610 -0.13% +20.61%

0

Budapest 79088.71 77690.26 +1.80% +30.47%

Warsaw 2270.80 2240.58 +1.35% -3.08%

Bucharest 16264.10 16060.28 +1.27% +5.81%

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 Hungary Poland Note: FRA are for ask prices

quotes

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