ECONOMY

Citizens investing in precious metals like gold and silver are keeping a close eye on the reports and predictions of experts. Most recently, the German banking giant, Commerzbank, has raised its forecast for gold and silver prices in a published report. The bank has revised its previous expectation for gold in 2026 from $4,200 to $4,400. Moreover, it has announced an expectation of $59 for silver. As of today, the price of an ounce of gold is trading at $4,224, while in Turkey, the price of a gram of gold has surged to 5,760 liras.

Despite suffering serious losses in the past, Japanese individual investors have once again turned their attention to the Turkish lira. The lira, which has lost more than 16% of its value against the yen this year, has become one of the most traded assets among risk-hungry day traders in Tokyo.According to data from the Tokyo Financial Exchange, as of November 12, approximately 900,000 futures margin contracts linked to the lira-yen pair have been opened. This figure is hovering near its all-time highs. Experts are cautioning that the expectation of high returns could potentially lead investors into the risk of another collective loss.

BillionToOne, a biotech firm established by Turkish entrepreneur Oğuzhan Atay in 2016, made its public debut on Nasdaq just the other day. Founded with the aim of developing genetic tests conducted via blood samples for common diseases such as sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis, the company has been a source of joy for its investors from day one. By the close of its first day of trading, the share price of the company, which started at $60, soared to $109, pushing the company's market value up to a staggering $5.8 billion.

The price of gold per ounce had nearly reached $4,200 last month, causing the price of a gram of gold in Turkey to escalate to around 6,000 lira. Due to this swift surge in gold prices, the demand for gold had become so high that finding a gram of gold in the Grand Bazaar had become a challenging task. However, the subsequent decline in the price of gold per ounce led to a wave of disappointment among investors. Commerzbank, one of Germany's leading banks, has recently released its new forecast for gold prices in 2026. The bank announced that the price of gold per ounce could potentially return to the $4,200 mark.

As always, people will be wishing for love, happiness, health, and wealth in 2026. Those dreaming of becoming rich will try their luck by playing the National Lottery. The most exciting moments in the first minutes of the new year will be the announcement of the winning numbers for the New Year's Special Draw grand prize. The amount of the National Lottery New Year's Grand Prize has been determined. Here are the grand prize and ticket prices.