Hungary forint strengthens further, eyes 322 vs. euro

HUF is on a roll - 15:45

The forint has firmed close to 322.3 versus the euro, which marks an 0.5% stronger than the closing level on Thursday. This puts the 322 level in focus as we have noted in the morning. The forint has already turned around twice from close to that level today. It is currently quoted at 276.67 versus the USD.

HUF firming again - 09:54

The forint strengthened close to 323 versus the euro on Friday morning, which corresponds to a 0.25% firming compared to the closing level on Thursday. This makes the forint an overperformer in the region, as the Polish zloty and the Czech koruna are both stagnating.

Forint had a great run on Thursday, key level is in sight - 08:37

The forint opened at 323.69 versus the euro on Friday, which marks an 0.1% firming compared to Thursday’s closing level. The HUF appreciated 0.55% to the euro over the last week, but it is still an underperformer in the region, as both Poland’s zloty and the Czech koruna gained slightly more over the last few days. The HUF starts the day slightly over 278 versus the USD, and it is quoted at 364.18 to the GBP.

As regards the forint’s regional peers, the PLN eased some and the CZK is flat so far. On emerging markets, Turkey’s lira strengthened 0.3% to the USD and South Africa’s rand gained 0.1%.

There were swings in EUR/USD before yesterday’s ECB policy meeting and after the subsequent press conference held by ECB President Mario Draghi. First, the euro strengthened than the tables turned and the dollar showed greater strength in the second half of the afternoon. There is currently no key direction in the cross which is around 1.164. Meanwhile, Japan’s yen firmed 0.1% to the USD, while the British pound eased some.

GDP data for the second quarter of 2018 will be released in France in the morning and in the U.S. in the afternoon. Markets are keeping an eye on these besides corporate earnings reports.

• Tags:
• Mario Draghi,
• exchange rate,
• ecb,
• forint