BUDAPEST: The forint moved between 296.17, a 15-month high, and 298.62. The forint was trading at 296.94 to the euro late Wednesday on the interbank forex market, up from 298.37 late Tuesday.
A steady stream of small interest rate cuts by Hungaryʼs central bank will not do much to weaken the forint, traders and analysts say. “We shouldnʼt forget that a rate-cutting cycle – as long as it is predictable – will lure foreign investors back to the government bond market, resulting in further forint strength,” Raiffeisen Bank said in a note on Wednesday. Hungaryʼs policy rate is at 1.95%, a new record low, after a 15 bps cut at the end of last month.
The forint traded at 274.75 to the dollar, up from 276.02 late Tuesday. On Wednesday, it moved between 272.49 and 275.86 after a five-day low at 276.58 Tuesday intraday, and a more than one-month high at 270.07 Monday intraday.
It was quoted at 284.71 to the Swiss franc, up from 285.57 late Tuesday. Its range on Wednesday was 283.68, an almost two-week high, to 285.80 after a four-day low at 287.29 Tuesday intraday. Since its crash to an all-time low at 378.49 on January 15 when the Swiss central bank scrapped its cap of 1.20 to the euro, it reached the highest at 281.07 on February 26.
