CEE MARKETS-Budapest, Prague stocks hit record highs on recovery hopes

By Anita Komuves BUDAPEST, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Central European stocks extended their advance on Wednesday, with indexes in Budapest and Prague scaling fresh highs as they tracked a rise in global markets, while better than expected corporate earnings also boosted the region's bourses. Equities in Europe and the United States extended gains as second-quarter results fuelled optimism about a fast recovery from the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Budapest's blue chip index was up 0.86% and hit a record high on Wednesday. Pharmaceutical company Richter outperformed the wider market for a second session, gaining 1.28% by 0915 GMT. The company reported better than expected second-quarter results on Tuesday. Warsaw's main index gained 0.84%. Shares in Bank Pekao were up 3.66% by 0918 GMT after the company reported a rise in net profit in the second quarter. Stocks in Prague were up 0.45% and reached a near 10-year high. Bucharest gained 0.49%. Most currencies in the CEE region also firmed, with the Hungarian forint outperforming its peers, adding 0.27% and trading at 354.70 per euro. "The rally keeps going because the market believes the central bank's words when it says that it will keep raising rates," a Budapest-based FX trader said. The Hungarian central bank raised its base rate by 30 basis points to 1.2% last Tuesday to fight inflation, which lifted the forint. The Czech crown edged up 0.04% to trade at 25.449 versus the common currency, ahead of the central bank's rate meeting on Thursday where analysts expect another hike following the start of policy tightening in June. In the Reuters poll, all 11 analysts saw the key two-week repo rate rising by 25 basis points to 0.75%. The Polish zloty was up 0.12% at 4.5460 to the euro. Unlike in Hungary or the Czech Republic, policymakers in Poland are keeping rates unchanged. On Wednesday central banker Eryk Lon said it is too early to raise rates. CEE SNAPSHO AT MARKETS T 1100 CET CURRENC IES Latest Previous Daily Change bid close change in 2021 EURCZK= Czech EURHUF= Hungary 0 EURPLN= Polish EURRON= Romania EURHRK= Croatia EURRSD= Serbian 0 Note: calculated from 1800 daily CET change Latest Previous Daily Change close change in 2021 .PX Prague 1226.23 1220.730 +0.45% +19.38 0 % .BUX Budapes 49738.2 49315.61 +0.86% +18.12 t 0 % .WIG20 Warsaw 2276.77 2257.73 +0.84% +14.76 % .BETI Buchare 11869.5 11811.33 +0.49% +21.05 st 3 % .SBITOP Ljublja <.SBITOP 1169.00 1183.26 -1.21% +29.77 na > % .CRBEX Zagreb 1955.16 1953.40 +0.09% +12.41 % .BELEX1 Belgrad <.BELEX1 776.36 776.98 -0.08% +3.71% 5 e 5> .SOFIX Sofia 574.78 575.63 -0.15% +28.43 % Yield Yield Spread Daily (bid) change vs Bund change in Czech spread Republi c CZ2YT=R s CZ5YT=R s CZ10YT= s Poland PL2YT=R s PL5YT=R s PL10YT= s FORWARD 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M interba nk Czech 1.33 1.72 1.97 0.80 Rep Hungary 2.02 2.19 2.29 1.35 Poland 0.39 0.55 0.71 0.21 Note: are for ask FRA prices quotes ********************************************* ***************** (Reporting by Anita Komuves Editing by David Holmes )