LIVE MARKETS-CEE stocks: Europe's overlooked buffer against trade turmoil

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CEE STOCKS: EUROPE'S OVERLOOKED BUFFER AGAINST TRADE TURMOIL

Among the countries that are part of the STOXX 600 .STOXX, Poland has quietly emerged as a distinct winner this year, with Warsaw's WIG 20 .WIG20 benchmark up by over 26% - more than three times the region-wide index's performance.

Christian Stocker, equity strategist at UniCredit in Munich, believes the Polish and other Central and Eastern European (CEE) stock markets are "unjustifiably" overlooked and explains why international investors should consider them more closely.

These markets, he says, are less vulnerable to U.S. trade policy and their cheaper valuations make them a good spot for possible "value opportunities".

Stocker points out that countries like Poland, Romania and Czechia have shown higher growth compared to Western Europe, fuelled by growing internal consumption, EU funding and infrastructure development.

"This largely domestic-oriented economic structure makes CEE countries less vulnerable to disruptions caused by U.S. trade policy," he argues.

However, a CEE investment is not without risk.

"Caveats to consider are liquidity risks... Some CEE countries are exposed to higher political or rule-of-law risks, and exchange-rate fluctuations can impact returns," he says.

(Danilo Masoni)

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