• Silver and platinum prices skyrocket –

This year, investors in equities and precious metals alike were rewarded with new record highs at Christmas. In addition to Eastern European equities, precious metal prices are booming, led by silver with a 146% increase in 2025 at a price of USD 72/ounce, and platinum, which rose 146% to £2,239 per ounce, while gold rose ‘only’ 72.4% in 2025 to £4,540, all of which were new all-time highs. Even palladium rose by 106% this year, far outstripping gold. Investors can take advantage of this with BNP Paribas ETCs.

However, few investors are aware that, in terms of equities and equity indices, Eastern Europe is the best investment region in the world, not only this year but also over the last three years, with significant opportunities for outperformance. With Poland, Czechia and Hungary on board, the CECE index rose by 54% this year up to Christmas and by 127% over three years. By contrast, the DAX rose by ‘only’ 21.5% this year and 74% over three years. But even the NASDAQ index, with the seven “magic” stocks on board and all the glorious AI stocks, gained ‘only’ 22.2% this year and 125% over three years.

It is therefore still worth taking a look at Eastern Europe, including countries such as Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, but also Georgia and Kazakhstan, which have the highest GDP growth rates, low valuations and high dividend yields. Andreas Männicke also shares his assessments of the new opportunities in Eastern Europe in his stock market newsletter EAST STOCK TRENDS (www.eaststock.de) and in his new EastStockTV video, episode 261, at www.YouTube.com.

And the winner is: platinum ahead of silver with a new all-time high!

This year, everyone was talking about gold, which reached a new all-time high of USD 4,450 per ounce, representing an increase of 72% over the year, but hardly anyone knows that the other precious metals – platinum, silver and palladium – performed even better. Platinum rose the most this year, up 147%, , including 41% in one month from £1600 to £2440, followed by silver with 146% in 2025, including 35% in one month from £53 to £76, and then palladium </ strong>by 106% in 2025, of which 20% in 1 month alone from 1440 to 1896 USD, and last but not least gold by 72.2% in 2025, of which 7.6% in 1 month alone from 4160 to 4536 USD. Such a sharp rise in precious metal prices as seen this year and such a sharp acceleration in the price rise towards the end of the year have not been seen for a long time. This can also be described as ‘historic’. This can already be described as ‘historic’. Investors can take advantage of this with the ETC from BNP Paribas (see also the detailed information in the stock market newsletter EAST STOCK TRENDS, www.eaststock.de).

Investors in Asia are shifting from cryptocurrencies to precious metals

China wants to classify silver as a strategically important raw material, which is also needed in batteries for electric cars, and no longer export it, which triggered a chain reaction in all precious metal prices in December. In addition, there were strong inflows into precious metal ETFs, while there were strong outflows from ETFs of major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. As a result, cryptocurrencies have fallen sharply in the last three months, while precious metal prices have risen sharply. If Bitcoin falls below USD 80,000/BTC on a sustained basis, there is even a risk of a crash. Investors from Asia in particular seem to be shifting from cryptocurrencies to precious metals following the Bank of Japan’s interest rate hike of 0.25 basis points. Countries such as China and Russia are continuing to build up their positions in precious metals and avoiding US government bonds.

High US bond yields and rising interest rates in Japan are causing concern

It was striking recently that US government bond yields rose despite the Fed’s interest rate cut and remain at the high level seen at the beginning of the year. Thirty-year US government bonds are still yielding 4.7%. The Fed is now buying USD 40 billion worth of US government bonds (T-bills) every month in order to provide banks with more liquidity. This is now becoming much more expensive for those who need to extend real estate loans or corporate bonds, take out new loans or issue new bonds. However, this can also be seen as a warning sign for global capital markets due to overpriced shares, especially AI shares for 2026.

Great opportunities for outperformance in Eastern Europe

But it is not only investors in precious metals who can be satisfied this year, but also investors in shares, with many new all-time highs in the US and also in Germany. This year, AI stocks from the US, especially Nvidia, with a market value of over USD 4.6 trillion, and the seven ‘magic stocks’ caused a sensation with new all-time highs, but also with very high valuations. However, most investors in the West have not really noticed the good outperformance opportunities on the stock markets in Eastern Europe because they are hardly discussed in the Western media.

CECE index above 50% in 2025

While the indices in Japan rose by almost 30% and in the USA by an average of 15 to 22%, and the DAX also rose by 21.5% before Christmas, the stock markets in Central Eastern Europe (Poland, Hungary, Czechia) rose by over 50% on average. However, these are more high-dividend value stocks in Eastern Europe and not so much growth stocks such as AI stocks in the USA.

The CECE Index, an artificial product of the Vienna Stock Exchange for shares from Poland, Hungary and Czechia, rose by 56%, while the DAX gained ‘only’ 21.5%. Bank shares from Eastern Europe performed particularly well, including those from Austria such as Erste Bank and Raiffeisen Bank International, which have many branches in Eastern Europe. Shares from Georgia and Kazakhstan also performed very well, which is not surprising given that these countries still have GDP growth rates of 5 to 7%. Even in Poland, GDP growth is over 3%, while the German economy is stagnating, partly due to high energy costs.

SETX index above 40% in 2025

The SETX Index, which includes shares from South-Eastern Europe, such as Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia, also performed well, with a price increase of over 40% this year. Investors can also benefit from the outperformance of index certificates on Eastern European indices such as the CECE Index or the SETX Index. Shares from the USA also suffered currency losses of 13% due to the weak US dollar. In contrast, Eastern European currencies such as the Hungarian forint and the Czech koruna rose sharply, resulting in currency gains in addition to price gains. Furthermore, dividend yields in Eastern Europe are much higher than in the US or Germany, but valuations are much lower.

Opportunities in Eastern Europe remain good

However, if peace of some kind is achieved next year, Russian equities could become interesting again alongside Ukrainian equities, provided that sanctions are lifted on both sides. If there is no peace, however, there is a very high risk that the war will spread to Europe, especially if German missiles land in Moscow, which is what Chancellor Merz has in mind. This should be avoided at all costs. Regardless of the Ukraine conflict, investors should also take advantage of the significant opportunities for outperformance in Eastern Europe in 2026.

First inform yourself, then invest

Find out more about the background and development of the Ukraine/Russia crisis now. but also the future recovery potential of undervalued stocks from Eastern Europe. There are also new opportunities in the Baltic States, South-Eastern Europe and the CIS republics (Kazakhstan, Georgia), where the respective stock indices were all up in 2023. In 2023, 12 stock exchanges from Eastern Europe were among the 30 best-performing stock markets in the world, with 5 clearly outperforming the DAX. In 2024, nine stock exchanges from Eastern Europe once again outperformed with strong gains. And since the beginning of the year, six stock exchanges from Eastern Europe have clearly outperformed the DAX. It is therefore still worth looking beyond the horizon to Eastern Europe.

Order a trial subscription now (3 issues by e-mail for only £15) to the monthly stock market newsletter EAST STOCK TRENDS (EST) with another Romania special and a dividend special, as well as lots of background information and new investment suggestions such as the ‘Share of the Month’ and lucrative certificates at www.eaststock.de, under ‘Stock Market Newsletter’. The last EST was published on 28 November 2025 with a special on shares from Romania.

TV/radio notes: On 19 July 2025, Andreas Männicke was interviewed by Michael Mross as part of the MMnews club about the top shares in Eastern Europe. On 6 October 2025, Andreas Männicke was also interviewed by Andreas Gross on Börsenradio Networks about new opportunities in Eastern Europe. All radio and TV interviews can be downloaded from the video archive at www.eaststock.de, including the latest video on EastStockTV, episode 261. By the way: have you already subscribed to the new YouTube channel BRICS-TV in addition to the YouTube channel EastStockTV ? If you are interested in in-depth coaching from Andreas Männicke, please register at info@eaststock.de

Seminar note: If you are interested in new East Stock Exchange seminars ‘Go East’ or a BRICS seminar in Frankfurt/M or other cities, please contact the EST editorial team (www.eaststock.de). If you are interested in East Stock Exchange webinars and BRICS webinars, please also register.

You can now also subscribe to Andreas Männicke’s free newsletter with the latest news about the global and Eastern stock exchanges and the BRICS at www.eaststock.de. Please also register at info@eaststock.de if you are interested in a new BRICS newsletter from Andreas Männicke.