CEE MARKETS-FX falls as Russian annexation spooks markets

By Alan Charlish WARSAW, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Central European currencies slid on Friday as anxiety in the region's markets deepened before Russian President Vladimir Putin was due to proclaim Moscow's annexation of territory in Ukraine. The Polish zloty and Hungarian forint have taken a hammering this week, buffeted by concerns over European energy security after gas leaks appeared in the Nord Stream pipelines. Russia's annexation of the Russian-occupied areas of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, which has been condemned in the West and beyond, has ratcheted up the tension even further. "My guess is that investors are afraid of Putin," said Piotr Poplawski, senior economist at ING in Warsaw. "Who knows what will happen during the weekend." At 0854 GMT the zloty was 0.34% weaker against the euro, with a higher-than-expected inflation reading of 17.2% year-on-year failing to provide a positive impulse. "Russia is a question mark and the Ukrainian war... the market remains very volatile and I think there are fireworks ahead of us next week," said a Warsaw-based currency trader. The forint was 0.28% softer at 421.60 at the end of a week that has seen it hit record lows. "The main reason for the weakening was the pressure from the strong dollar and the rise in the gas prices but the central bank's announcement on Tuesday was oil to the fire," an FX trader in Budapest said. The National Bank of Hungary said on Tuesday that it was ending its year-long rate hike cycle amid a slowing economy and that it will focus on liquidity tightening. The Czech crown was 0.20% weaker against the euro at 24.604. The Czech National Bank (CNB) kept interest rates unchanged on Thursday, as it said it would continue market interventions to prevent excessive currency swings. Warsaw's WIG Banks stock index was down 0.1%, with Getin Holding, the parent of Getin Noble Bank, falling over 5% after Poland's Bank Guarantee Fund has started its compulsory restructuring of the lender. 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 1124.24 1114.34 +0.89% #VALUE! 00 .BUX Budapest 37662.1 37035.7 +1.69% -25.75% 7 9 .WIG20 Warsaw <.WIG20 1379.45 1380.10 -0.05% -39.15% > .BETI Buchares 10665.2 10549.4 +1.10% -18.34% t 5 4 .SBITO Ljubljan <.SBITO 955.59 955.83 -0.03% -23.89% P a P> .CRBEX Zagreb <.CRBEX 1900.99 1900.46 +0.03% -8.58% > .BELEX Belgrade <.BELEX 827.24 827.24 +0.00% +0.79% 15 15> .SOFIX Sofia <.SOFIX 583.44 585.29 -0.32% -8.22% > 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 Alan Charlish in Warsaw and Anita Komuves in Budapest, Editing by Angus MacSwan)