By Anita Komuves BUDAPEST, May 15 (Reuters) - Central European stock markets rose and most currencies edged higher on Friday, tracking a rally in Western European shares driven by positive economic data from China. The DAX index of Germany, Central Europe's biggest trading partner, rose 1.76% by 1022 GMT as data showed China's industrial production rose in April after having contracted since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Preliminary first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data came in better than expected in nearly all the countries of Central Europe, despite the economic damage wrought by the pandemic. Hungary's growth rate halved to an annual 2.2% in the first quarter from 4.5% in the last quarter of 2019. Poland's GDP rose 1.9% year-on-year, while Romania's economy grew 2.4% on the year in the first quarter. The Czech GDP dropped by 3.6% in the first quarter, versus the previous three months, the steepest drop since the global financial crisis in 2009. "It is the extent of decline in Q2, and the extent of rebound in Q3 which the market is essentially interested in. Hence, today's data is likely to turn out to be FX neutral," Commerzbank said in a note. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he hopes the industrial manufacturing sector, which represents close to a third of the economy, will return to its pre-crisis expansion rate from June. Hungary's economy could accelerate in the second half and reverse an expected overall 3% drop in GDP this year with a growth of 4.8% in 2021, Finance Minister Mihaly Varga said in a statement. Currencies in the region firmed or held stable. The Polish zloty was up 0.26% and trading at 4.554 versus the euro, while the Hungarian forint gained 0.17%, firming to 353.700 versus the common currency. The Czech crown led gains, adding 0.58% to trade at 27.460 against the euro. The crown has lost 7.4% of its value versus the euro this year, the biggest loss among its regional peers. Central bank governor Jiri Rusnok said the Czech National Bank is not in a situation that would warrant interventions against the crown. Budapest's blue-chip index led gains, firming 1.28% by 0806 GMT. Warsaw was up 0.85%, while Bucharest gained 0.75%. Prague's equities gained 0.52%. CEE SNAPSHOT AT MARKETS 1006 CET CURRENCIE S Latest Previous Daily Change bid close change in 2020 Czech 27.4600 27.6200 +0.58% -7.39% crown Hungary 353.7000 354.3000 +0.17% -6.38% forint Polish 4.5540 4.5660 +0.26% -6.53% zloty Romanian 4.8385 4.8375 -0.02% -1.04% leu Croatian 7.5720 7.5733 +0.02% -1.67% kuna Serbian 117.5700 117.6200 +0.04% +0.00% dinar Note: calculated from 1800 CET daily change Latest Previous Daily Change close change in 2020 Prague 863.45 858.9600 +0.52% -22.60% Budapest 34582.21 34144.57 +1.28% -24.96% Warsaw 1592.65 1579.16 +0.85% -25.93% Bucharest 8204.46 8143.54 +0.75% -17.77% Ljubljana 813.09 808.02 +0.63% -12.18% Zagreb 1551.74 1546.68 +0.33% -23.08% Belgrade <.BELEX15 668.10 662.11 +0.90% -16.66% > Sofia 449.51 449.51 +0.00% -20.88% Yield Yield Spread Daily (bid) change vs Bund change in Czech spread Republic 2-year <CZ2YT=RR 0.1760 -0.0210 +093bps -1bps > 5-year <CZ5YT=RR 0.3390 0.0230 +109bps +3bps > 10-year <CZ10YT=R 0.9080 0.1730 +145bps +18bps R> Poland 2-year <PL2YT=RR 0.4990 -0.0030 +125bps +1bps > 5-year <PL5YT=RR 0.8850 -0.0050 +163bps +0bps > 10-year <PL10YT=R 1.2620 -0.0090 +180bps -1bps R> FORWARD 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M interban k Czech Rep < 0.19 0.18 0.21 0.35 PRIBOR=> Hungary < 0.93 0.90 0.86 1.05 BUBOR=> Poland < 0.32 0.28 0.29 0.68 WIBOR=> Note: FRA are for ask prices quotes *************************************************** *********** (Editing by Devika Syamnath)
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