Romanian Leu Loses Early Ground Vs Euro On Negative Sentiment

04.18.2011 By Florentina Dragu

Romania’s leu lost part of its early gains versus the euro in late trade Monday, amid a negative sentiment in the region after Standard & Poor’s cut its long-term outlook for the United States to negative from stable, citing risks from the country’s growing deficit.

Romania's leu lost part of its early gains versus the euro in late trade Monday, amid a negative sentiment in the region after Standard & Poor's cut its long-term outlook for the United States to negative from stable, citing risks from the country's growing deficit.

The leu closed at 4.09/4.092 per euro, slightly up from 4.094/4.0955 Friday.

Elsewhere in the region Monday afternoon, the Polish zloty was losing 0.8% versus the euro, while the Hungary's forint was down 0.3%.

The leu opened slightly at 4.09 per euro and further gained ground, pushed up by foreign currency sales.

The Romanian central bank set the leu's reference at 4.0896 to the euro, the strongest rate since March 2010.

On the money market, overnight rates fell to 2.2%-2.7% a year, from 2.25%-2.75% a year in the previous session.