CEE MARKETS-CEE currencies, shares down on lockdown fears

By 0940 GMT, the Polish zloty EURPLN= fell 0.7% on the day to 4.6145, its lowest since late-March as the country reported a record 18,820 new coronavirus infections and 236 deaths on Wednesday, facing hospitals overload while mass street protests against an abortion ruling continue.

"Should the situation deteriorate further, more restrictions, including lockdown like in the second quarter, cannot be excluded," Raiffeisen said in a daily note.

"Simultaneously to the deteriorating pandemic Poland is observing increasing political tensions with countrywide protests in response to an extended ban on abortion released last week."

The Hungarian forint EURHUF= fell 0.5% on the day to 367.1000, its lowest level since early April.

The Hungarian government has tightened rules on wearing mask in shops, events and public transport, but has so far refrained from imposing more severe restrictions as it is trying to limit the economic fallout.

"The forint continues to hover around critical levels. It is increasingly likely that it will try to break the resistance at 366.40 to the euro soon," brokerage Equilor said in a note.

Elsewhere in the region, the Romanian leu EURRON= was flat against the euro. A widening budget deficit kept Romanian assets under pressure, but a successful euro-denominated domestic debt tender on Tuesday gave the finance ministry some breathing room, analysts said.

A potential new national lockdown in France and tighter curbs elsewhere in Europe have rattled investors struggling to gauge the impact on fourth-quarter economic activity.

By 0940 GMT, Warsaw's blue chip index .WIG20 led losses, down 1.8% on the day. Stocks in Budapest .BUX and Bucharest .BETI fell 1.4% and 1.0%, respectively. Czech markets were closed for a public holiday.

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