CEE MARKETS-FX mixed ahead of Polish c.bank governor's press conference

By Alan Charlish and Anita Komuves WARSAW Dec 9 (Reuters) - Central European currencies were mixed on Thursday, as focus turned to policy tightening in Hungary and a press conference with the governor of Poland's central bank, after it hiked rates lesser than many investors had hoped for. The National Bank of Poland (NBP) hiked its main interest rate by 50 basis points to 1.75% on Wednesday, a move that was in line with the expectations of economists polled by Reuters, but which fell short of what markets had priced in. "A small part of the market was expecting 75 basis points, a more aggressive move, and as it did not happen the zloty weakened," said Mateusz Sutowicz, a financial market analyst at Bank Millennium in Warsaw. The zloty was 0.18% weaker against the euro at 4.6243 at 0920 GMT. Polish Central Bank Governor Adam Glapinski will hold a press conference at 1400 GMT, with markets looking for signs of the extent of further tightening. The Hungarian forint was a touch firmer at 366.00 after the Hungarian central bank raised its one-week deposit rate by 20 basis points to 3.3% at its weekly tender, continuing a series of interest rate hikes as it tries to curb inflation. "The rise of the one-week rate was already priced in and has helped the forint before it was announced," an FX trader in Budapest said. "The forint firmed back from levels near 369 yesterday afternoon, however, the main factor in that was the Polish rate hike that was not as high as some expected. That hurt the zloty and the forint could profit from that." The central bank is expected to continue its rate hikes on Tuesday at its rate-setting meeting where a Reuters poll of analysts expect the base rate to be hiked by another 30 basis points to 2.4%. The Czech crown was 0.12% stronger at 25.45, gaining before CPI data on Friday likely to show the headline inflation rate—already at a 13-year high—rising above 6%. CEE SNAPSH AT MARKETS OT 1020 CET CURREN CIES Latest Previou Daily Change s bid close hm in 2021 EURCZK Czech 0 % % EURHUF Hungary 00 0 % EURPLN Polish EURRON Romania % EURHRK Croatia % % EURRSD Serbian 00 0 % % Note: calculated from 1800 daily CET change Latest Previou Daily Change s close change in 2021 .PX Prague 1406.6 1398.84 +0.55 +36.9 0 00 % 4% .BUX Budapes 51354. 51261.6 +0.18 +21.9 t 43 3 % 6% .WIG20 Warsaw <.WIG20 2230.1 2219.62 +0.47 +12.4 > 5 % 1% .BETI Buchare 12643. 12598.4 +0.35 +28.9 st 13 4 % 4% .SBITO Ljublja <.SBITO 1234.3 1226.81 +0.61 +37.0 P na P> 4 % 2% .CRBEX Zagreb <.CRBEX 1999.0 1995.79 +0.16 +14.9 > 0 % 3% .BELEX Belgrad <.BELEX 823.42 833.75 -1.24% +9.99 15 e 15> % .SOFIX Sofia <.SOFIX 619.34 621.73 -0.38% +38.3 > 9% Yield Yield Spread Daily (bid) change vs change Bund in Czech spread Republi c CZ2YT= ps CZ5YT= ps CZ10YT ps Poland PL2YT= ps PL5YT= ps PL10YT ps FORWARD 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M interb ank Czech Hungary Poland Note: are for ask FRA prices quotes ***************************************** ********************* (Reporting by Alan Charlish in Warsaw, Anita Komuves in Budapest and Jason Hovet in Prague; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)