BUDAPEST: Poland's zloty and the Hungarian forint rallied against the euro late on Monday as risk appetite rose on tentative hopes that Greece could clinch a deal with its creditors.
Markets were buoyed after Greece announced a reshuffle of its team handling negotiations, seen as a last-ditch effort to unlock aid from international lenders.
At 1440 GMT the zloty and the forint were about 1 percent stronger after breaking through respective key levels at 4 and 300 to the euro, according to Reuters data.
A recent rally in central European assets, fuelled by a strong economic growth outlook, stalled last week due to concerns that Greece will run out of money and may quit the euro zone.
"The zloty and the forint have firmed hand in hand, the zloty through 4 and the forint through 300," a Budapest-based currency dealer said. "We have been firming since the morning, it is probably driven by the positive news flow out of Greece."
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Monday reshuffled his team handling talks with European and IMF lenders, a move widely seen as an effort to sideline embattled Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis to a less active role in negotiations.
Stock markets in Budapest and Warsaw also rose more than 1 percent.
Shares of Hungarian drug maker Richter rose 3.5 percent to their highest levels since late-January 2014 after the firm said it may get a licence for one of its products to be used more widely in the European Union.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has positively assessed Richter's application to expand availability of its Esmya tablets used in the long-term treatment of uterine fibroids.
"The news is definitely positive: this assessment does not apply to the American market but after a European approval, a positive assessment could be expected in the US as well," Erste Investment said in a note.
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