CEE MARKETS-Hungarian forint leads losses ahead of c.bank meeting

BUCHAREST, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The Hungarian forint led losses on Monday among central and eastern European currencies, a day ahead of a central bank meeting, while inflation worries and disappointing economic growth in China also sapped global risk sentiment. Hungarian central bankers have raised rates four times since June, initially lifting the forint, but the currency has given up nearly all its gains since policymakers slowed down the pace of rate hikes last month despite higher inflation forecasts. By 0915 GMT, the forint was down 0.4% against the euro at 360.9500. The National Bank of Hungary (NBH) is expected to raise its base rate by 15 basis points to 1.8% on Tuesday, a Reuters poll of analysts showed. "We expect a 15 basis point hike at tomorrow's meeting, however, we do not exclude the possibility of hawkish communication and an intervention in the swap market due to the forint's weakness," brokerage Equilor wrote in a note. Elsewhere in the region, the Czech crown and Polish zloty were down 0.3% and 0.2% against the euro, respectively. The rise in Czech producer prices accelerated to nearly 10% y/y in September, further backing expectations of more interest rate hikes. Market rates ticked up in early trading. The Romanian leu was flat against the euro, after Moody's changed the country's outlook to "stable" from "negative", citing growth prospects backed by private businesses and European Union funds. The country, beleaguered by a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases amid low vaccination rates and a political crisis, is struggling with wide budget and current account deficits, and the currency is down 1.7% overall this year, the region's worst performer. Stock markets in the region were mixed, with Prague's and Budapest's down 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively, while Warsaw's rose 0.7% on the day and Bucharest's added 0.2%. CEE SNAPSHO AT MARKETS T 1129 CET CURRENC IES Latest Previou Daily Change s bid close change in 2021 Czech Hungary 0 0 Polish Romanian Croatian Serbian 0 0 Note: calculated from 1800 daily CET change Latest Previou Daily Change s close change in 2021 Prague 1358.46 1361.78 -0.24% +32.26 00 % Budapest 54702.9 54764.3 -0.11% +29.91 5 4 % Warsaw 2474.43 2453.98 +0.83% +24.72 % Buchares 12736.7 12711.0 +0.20% +29.89 t 1 6 % Ljubljan <.SBITOP 1178.20 1175.39 +0.24% +30.79 a > % Zagreb 2046.90 2047.81 -0.04% +17.69 % Belgrade <.BELEX1 789.32 794.88 -0.70% +5.44% 5> Sofia 578.22 574.94 +0.57% +29.20 % Yield Yield Spread Daily (bid) change vs Bund change in Czech spread Republic 2-year s 5-year s s Poland 2-year s 5-year s s FORWARD 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M interba nk Czech 3.19 3.40 3.56 2.05 Rep Hungary 2.59 2.95 3.18 1.87 Poland 1.58 2.03 2.44 0.69 Note: are for ask FRA prices quotes ********************************************* ***************** (Reporting by Luiza Ilie in Bucharest, Anita Komuves in Budapest and Jason Hovet in Prague; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)