CEE MARKETS-FX slips as oil gains, France political worries curb risk appetite

WARSAW, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Central European currencies were a touch weaker on Thursday as higher oil prices and worries about the political situation in France limited risk appetite.

• Data published on Thursday showed retail sales in Poland rose year-on-year by a lower-than-expected 3.3% in September.

• However, analysts said the data would have limited influence on Polish assets, with the focus still on global factors such as oil prices.

• "The scope for further appreciation of the PLN is limited by high oil prices, an elevated fiscal risk premium for France, and uncertainty ahead of Moody's review of France's credit rating this Friday," PKO BP analysts said.

• "Consequently, while the zloty may attempt to strengthen further, we consider it unlikely that the EUR/PLN and USD/PLN exchange rates will see a sustained decline below 4.35 and 3.86, respectively, by the end of the week."

• Poland will hold a bond tender with an offer of 8 billion to 14 billion zlotys on Thursday.

• The Polish zloty weakened 0.2% to 4.3640 per euro by 0816 GMT while the Czech crown was stable at 24.2850.

• Elsewhere, the Hungarian forint lost 0.3% to 366.25 per euro.

• "From the point of view of the domestic financial environment, it is a positive development that the draft budget for 2027 presented on Monday is considered acceptable by the market for the time being," KH Bank analyst David Nemeth said in a note.

• "We do not expect another interest rate cut for the rest of this year, but further interest rate cuts may come in 2027. The pace and extent of easing will be fundamentally determined by the development of geopolitical risks and global energy prices, as well as the performance of the Hungarian economy."