CEE MARKETS-Zloty off 1-month high as central Europe's currencies retreat

PRAGUE, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Central Europe's currencies pulled back on Friday, with Poland's zloty retreating from a one-month high, as a brief rally sputtered and global stock markets fell on jitters over U.S. regional lenders.

Central European currencies were still on course for a weekly gain, coming after heavier losses in the previous week that knocked the Hungarian forint and the Czech crown off multi-month peaks.

Overnight, U.S. regional lender Zions ZION.O sank 13% after disclosing it would take a $50 million loss in the third quarter on two loans from its California division. Western Alliance's WAL.N stock slumped 11% after it initiated a lawsuit alleging fraud by Cantor Group V, LLC. Cantor's attorneys denied the allegations.

Those developments hit sentiment in global markets, causing a pullback from riskier emerging market assets, like in central Europe, where investor demand has been strong in recent weeks.

Stock markets fell, led by Warsaw's WIG20 blue-chip index .WIG20 losing over 2% at one point. Moves in currencies were more muted, with the zloty EURPLN= down 0.15% at 4.2535 per euro at 1015 GMT, after touching a high of 4.2455 on Thursday.

The Polish currency has been mostly range-bound for months, caught between solid economic developments and a central bank that has been cutting interest rates.

"The market is waiting for a trigger that could increase the record-low volatility, but it's difficult to pinpoint such a factor at this time," Bank Millennium said in a note.

Markets could start looking to a potential meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital Budapest to discuss ending the war in Ukraine - which Trump announced on Thursday.

The forint led losses alongside the zloty on Friday, easing 0.3% to 390.85 per euro. The currency has been bouncing off 16-month highs - at 387.60 to the euro - in recent trading, bolstered by Hungarian interest rates staying on hold at a joint-EU high.

The Czech crown also hit a 25-month high - at 24.21 to the euro - in early October before losses last week. It traded at 24.311 on Friday.

Bank CSOB said the crown could hold around levels hit this week, with U.S. regional bank jitters weighing it down on one side and hope of resolving the Ukraine-Russia conflict supporting it on the other.