BUDAPEST/WARSAW: The zloty rebounded from 6-1/2-month lows against the euro as a dollar rally was losing steam in global markets and data due later on Friday are seen showing a rise in Polish inflation.
The zloty and the forint, Central Europe's most liquid currencies, got sold off this week as investors flocked into the dollar after hawkish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
Local factors also helped the currencies fall to multi-month lows this week, mainly new Polish proposals for judiciary reform which had angered the European Commission, and a new round of monetary easing measures in Budapest.
On Friday, the forint traded flat at 311.18 against the euro at 0843 GMT, while the zloty gained 0.2 percent to 4.308.
Poland is due to release flash inflation figures for September at 1200 GMT.
Polish flash inflation data often provide investors with good indications about the regionwide inflation trend. Analysts expect annual inflation to pick up to 2 percent, from 1.8 percent in August.
The zloty could remain under pressure from politics and this week's rise in market interest rates in developed markets, but "it might get some help from the September inflation figures," KBC analysts said in a note.
"They can temporary turn market attention to the NBP (Polish central bank) policy, which could be seen as too dovish," they added.
Most analysts do not expect the bank to start to lift interest rates before late next year.
Despite worries within the bank over negative zloty real interest rates and a tight labour market, the inflation data are unlikely to have any significant influence, ING analysts said in a note.
"Tolerance for surprise in terms of higher activity growth or salaries is high, while, by now, we do not observe that it significantly translates into an inflationary pressure," they said.
BZ WBK analysts did not rule out further zloty losses, if Thursday's lows around 4.33 get broken, but global markets could stabilize soon, and "positive fundamentals of Polish economy will encourage investors to utilize recent zloty's depreciation to purchase Polish currency," they said in a note.
Hungarian government bonds, which reversed a rally after the Yellen comments, firmed again on Friday, with yields dropping by a few basis points, in tandem with Polish bonds.
Elsewhere, the crown was testing 26 against the euro, the highs it reached on the day of its Aug 3. rate hike, the first in the European Union since 2012.
The Czech central bank kept rates on hold at its meeting on Wednesday, but its comments retained strong expectations for a further rate hike at its next meeting in November.
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