BUDAPEST: Hungarian government bond yields retreated on Thursday ahead of an auction, tracking US Treasuries, while Central European stocks took a beating from a global sell-off.
The region's main equities indices fell to multi-week lows at the opening as sentiment soured due to a plunge in stocks on Wall Street and in Asia.
The global sell-off was partly caused by comments from International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde who said stock market valuations had been "extremely high".
Only equities were hit by her remarks and then only briefly: Regional indices had made up almost half their initial losses in the first hour of trading.
Warsaw's bluechip index initially fell 2 percent upon opening but was down 1.3 percent at 0800 GMT, weighed down by shares of oil group PKN Orlen which fell 1.1 percent to a 2-month low.
Regional currencies hovered near Wednesday's closing levels, with the dollar giving up some ground in global markets.
Government bond yields, especially in Hungary, mostly retreated as they tracked the 10-year US yield.
The Hungarian Debt Management Agency AKK was due to hold its bi-weekly bond auctions on Thursday.
"Yields have been hectic so it is still hard to predict the outcome of the auction," one Budapest-based fixed income trader
said.
"I can imagine that they (the AKK) will cut the amounts slightly at the increased yield levels, but a normal auction with a wider spread in the yields accepted is equally possible now," the trader added.
Hungary's 10-year yield rose to 3.92 percent on Wednesday, its highest level since the middle of 2015.
It retreated to 3.88 percent before Thursday's primary sale , while Poland's corresponding yield was bid lower by 2 basis points at 3.3 percent.
The Hungarian auction results will be announced at 0930 GMT.
Three-month bills sold at negative yields recently and Hungary's yield curve is at its steepest in several years as the Hungarian central bank keeps its short-term interest rates at record lows - the lowest in the region.
The bank, which meets next Thursday, is expected to hold interest rates in coming months.
Wednesday's surge in yields surprised some as it came in light trade, but the trader said it was fuelled by asset swap deals by market players betting on a rise in Hungarian medium- and long-term bond yields.
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