The leu opened at 4.4565 versus the euro, slightly down from 4.45 at Thursday’s close.
Later, the leu strengthened to 4.4435 units per euro and shortly after 10:00 local time (GMT0700) was trading at 4.4430/4.4475 versus the euro.
The central bank set the leu’s reference at 4.4463 against the euro Thursday, lower from a three-week high of 4.4161 per euro Wednesday. Against the US dollar, the leu’s indicative lost 0.8% on the day to 3.4151 units.
In the money market Friday morning, overnight rates rose to 5%-7% a year.