CEE MARKETS-Currencies show limited reaction to Trump trade war escalation

PRAGUE, March 27 (Reuters) - Central Europe's currencies eased on Thursday, coming off recent highs but showing a muted response to U.S. plans for a 25% tariff on vehicles not built in the United States.

Stocks took the brunt of the impact of President Donald Trump's announcement on Wednesday, which escalated a global trade war and hammered stocks, although the main indices in Central Europe stabilised off session lows by mid-morning.

Among currencies, the crown retreated from a nine-month high hit on Wednesday after the Czech central bank paused its interest rate-cutting campaign as expected, and detailed inflationary risks - including trade wars - that Governor Ales Michl said could cause one-off price increases.

He spoke before Trump followed through on weeks of threats for new tariffs on imported cars.

Currencies appeared to take the news in stride on Thursday, with the crown EURCZK= down just 0.3% versus Wednesday's local close, at 24.939 to the euro at 1041 GMT.

The Polish zloty EURPLN= also eased 0.3% to 4.197 per euro, holding in a recent range off 10-year highs hit at the end of February.

"The market reaction is quite limited," Polish group Bank Millennium said.

Central Europe's economies rely to a major extent on trade with Germany, the continent's largest and a major exporter of automotive products to the United States.

Following a string of U.S. tariff announcements in recent weeks, some analysts perceive fatigue behind the muted reaction in currencies so far, with policymakers still gauging the impact of escalating trade war risks.

The Czech central bank said on Wednesday that while trade wars could ignite higher inflation, especially in the short-term, they could also lead to a global economic slowdown in the longer term.

Markets continue to price in chances of a further Czech interest rate at the bank's next meeting in May.

On Thursday, Hungary's central bank said in its quarterly inflation report that stronger trade barriers such as tariffs could dampen economic growth and accelerate inflation.

Hungary's forint EURHUF= inched 0.1% lower to 400.95 to the euro.