CEE MARKETS-Forint underperforms other currencies as stocks recover

BUDAPEST, May 20 (Reuters) - The forint eased slightly on Friday, underperforming central European currencies, which held steady after a volatile week, with the Hungarian currency pressured by uncertainty over the pace of central bank tightening and a Russian oil embargo. At 0854 GMT, the forint, the region's worst-performing currency with a 4% loss for the year, was down 0.2% versus the euro, while other Central European currencies were mildly stronger after a choppy week. The forint has been on a rollercoaster since the National Bank of Hungary flagged a slowdown in the pace of rate hikes as it tries to strike a balance between reining in inflation from more than two decade highs and stifling the economy. Uncertainty over a proposed European Union embargo on oil imports from Russia, a measure vehemently opposed by Hungary, which gets about two-thirds of its crude oil from Russia, also hung over the Hungarian currency, a trader said. "I think the market got a bit unsettled by the central bank flagging a slowdown in the pace of rate hikes," the trader said, adding however that moves in the forint lacked clear direction. "The market is waiting for news about the energy sanctions, whether we can continue to buy oil and gas. That will decide whether the forint will be able to firm." Economists at Hungarian Bankholding also said the forint's moves reflected its higher relative volatility in the region, while other currencies moved sideways as the dollar steadied. Regional stock markets also recovered from Thursday's falls when investors were unsettled by global inflation, with Warsaw and Budapest stocks both gaining over 1%. CEE SNAPSHO AT MARKETS T 1054 CET CURRENC IES Latest Previou Daily Change s bid close change in 2022 EURCZK Czech EURHUF Hungary 0 0 EURPLN Polish EURRON Romanian EURHRK Croatian EURRSD Serbian 0 0 Note: calculated from 1800 daily CET change Latest Previou Daily Change s close change in 2022 .PX Prague 1357.36 1344.27 +0.97% N/A 00 .BUX Budapest 41945.1 41473.4 +1.14% -17.30% 6 5 .WIG20 Warsaw <.WIG20 1803.47 1776.40 +1.52% -20.44% > .BETI Buchares 12051.7 11975.7 +0.63% -7.73% t 8 7 .SBITO Ljubljan <.SBITO 1147.47 1135.92 +1.02% -8.60% P a P> .CRBEX Zagreb <.CRBEX 2082.26 2073.54 +0.42% +0.14% > .BELEX Belgrade <.BELEX 822.07 818.11 +0.48% +0.16% 15 15> .SOFIX Sofia <.SOFIX 617.60 613.99 +0.59% -2.84% > Yield Yield Spread Daily (bid) change vs Bund change in Czech spread Republic CZ2YT= 2-year s CZ5YT= 5-year s CZ10YT s Poland PL2YT= 2-year s PL5YT= 5-year s PL10YT s FORWARD 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M interba nk Czech Hungary Poland Note: are for ask FRA prices quotes ******************************************** ****************** (Reporting by Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Alexander Smith)