CEE MARKETS-Stocks gain, Czech crown holds onto gains on rate hike hopes

By Anita Komuves BUDAPEST, April 22 (Reuters) - Central European currencies moved sideways on Thursday and regional stocks gained, as the dollar eased and investors' risk appetite grew on economic recovery hopes. Market participants were also eyeing a meeting of the European Central Bank later in the day, looking for clues on how the central bank will react to an expected economic rebound. The Czech crown was little changed, hovering around a 2-week high against the euro after firming in the previous session on hawkish signals from the central bank, analysts said. The currency was lifted by rate hike expectations after central bank Governor Jiri Rusnok "gave a first indication for the timing of possible rate hike steps," Commerzbank wrote in a note. Rusnok said in an interview with Reuters that a policy debate may start in August. The Hungarian forint edged down 0.04% to trade at 363.50 to the euro after underperforming its peers and sliding in the previous session. The forint ended weeks of steady gains last week when it turned around from levels near 356 per euro. "This seems like a very strong correction after the currency's recent strengthening as fundamentals have not changed," an FX trader in Budapest said. With better pandemic news, a fast pace of vaccinations and a weakening dollar, the currency is expected to recoup some of its losses in the near future, two traders said. The Hungarian Government Debt Management Agency (AKK) will issue 20 billion forints worth of 30-year green government bonds on Thursday. The agency said it planned to sell 90 billion forints ($300 million) worth of the bond in 2021. Hungary's central bank is committed to buying green government bonds as part of its asset purchase program, the bank told Reuters earlier this month. Most stock markets in the region gained, tracking a rise in European markets. Warsaw added 1.06% while Budapest was up 0.65%. Prague edged up 0.06%. CEE SNAPSHO AT MARKETS T 1048 CET CURRENC IES Latest Previous Daily Change bid close change in 2021 EURCZK= Czech % EURHUF= Hungary 0 EURPLN= Polish % EURRON= Romanian EURHRK= Croatian % EURRSD= Serbian 0 % Note: calculated from 1800 daily CET change Latest Previous Daily Change close change in 2021 .PX Prague 1092.82 1092.130 +0.06 +6.39% 0 % .BUX Budapest 43032.4 42753.60 +0.65 +2.20% 7 % .WIG20 Warsaw 2003.44 1982.40 +1.06 +0.98% % .BETI Buchares 11132.4 11093.29 +0.35 +13.53 t 1 % % .SBITOP Ljubljan <.SBITOP 1052.16 1050.55 +0.15 +16.80 a > % % .CRBEX Zagreb 1886.32 1877.80 +0.45 +8.45% % .BELEX1 Belgrade <.BELEX1 777.11 776.87 +0.03 +3.81% 5 5> % .SOFIX Sofia 519.75 521.70 -0.37% +16.14 % Yield Yield Spread Daily (bid) change vs change Bund in Czech spread Republic CZ2YT=R 2-year ps CZ5YT=R 5-year ps CZ10YT= ps Poland PL2YT=R 2-year ps PL5YT=R 5-year ps PL10YT= ps FORWARD 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M interba nk Czech 0.43 0.65 1.00 0.36 Rep Hungary 0.98 1.14 1.29 0.79 Poland 0.24 0.27 0.39 0.21 Note: are for ask FRA prices quotes ********************************************* ***************** (Additional reporting by Robert Muller in Prague; Editing by Aditya Soni)