BUDAPEST: The crown was flat on Thursday ahead of a Czech central bank meeting, while other Central European currencies and bonds drifted down and Poland canceled a bond tender because of a global slide in bond prices.
Analysts do not expect the Czech central bank, atypical in the region for ultra-low interest rates near zero, to change rates or postpone next year's planned exit from the "weak crown" regime that keeps the currency weaker than 27 against the euro.
The crown was flat at 27.419 at 0753 GMT.
In several other states in the region, further monetary easing remains on the cards, of which the latest indication was a surprise 25 basis point interest rate cut in Romania on Wednesday to a new record low of 1.75 percent.
The possibility of easing has put a lid on a surge of regional currencies and they even retreated in the past two weeks due to pressure on regional bonds, with government bond yields in core global markets surging after years of decline.
Hungary's 10-year government bond yield rose 22 basis points from Wednesday's fixing to 3.86 percent.
Poland's 10-year yield rose 4 basis points to 2.94 percent, and bids at 2.97 percent approached the 3 percent level last touched more than 7 months ago. The much lower Czech 10-year yield was flat at 0.72 percent, almost closing the gap with the rising 10-year Bund yield.
The forint eased 0.2 percent against the euro to 306.40.
The zloty eased by half a percent to 4.061, giving up all the gains posted after Polish central bank governor Marek Belka said on Wednesday that Poland was very happy with the levels of its zloty currency.
The comments dampened market speculation that the bank would act to rein in the zloty.
A Reuters poll showed on Wednesday that most analysts expect the region's robust economic growth and the European Central Bank's asset buying to lead to a rebound of regional currencies in the next weeks or months.
But fears that Greece may give up the euro or that the UK might leave the European Union after Thursday's elections weigh on market sentiment.
"But the main worry is there is a shift in sentiment in bond markets which had been bullish (for years)," one Budapest-based fixed income trader said.
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