Leu Gains Vs Euro In Early Trade, Unfazed By Inflation Data

05.10.2011 ZF English

The Romanian leu opened flat against the euro Tuesday and further gained ground on average traded volumes, and dealers said its evolution wasn't affected by the publication of consumer price figures showing the annual inflation hit a 32-month high in April.

The leu opened at 4.097/4.10 to the euro, virtually unchanged from 4.097/4.099 to the euro at Monday's closing.

Afterwards, the leu touched an early high at 4.09 units, before easing to 4.0935/4.095 units at around GMT0715.

Dealers said the leu was not impacted by the CPI data, as a higher inflation was espected. Consumer prices rose 0.66% in April from a month earlier, while the annual inflation accelerated to 8.34%, the highest level since July 2008, the statistics institute INS said Tuesday.

On Monday, the Romanian central bank set the leu's exchange rate at 4.1039 per euro, 0.4% stronger on the day.

On the money market Tuesday morning, overnight rates fell to 2.9%-3.4% a year, from 3.2%-3.7% a year the day before.