PRAGUE, Dec 28 (Reuters) - The Czech crown on Tuesday firmed past the key 25-per-euro mark on the back of recent interest rate hikes and led gains among central and east European currencies in holiday-thinned trading. The region"s units were supported by an improvement in global risk appetite as worries over the Omicron coronavirus variant eased and Wall Street ended on a strong note overnight. [MKTs/GLOB] Among CEE currencies, the crown was up 0.4% at 24.97 versus the euro by 1346 GMT after earlier hitting a 22-month high. The crown had crossed the 25 level only briefly last week, the first time since February 2020, after the Czech central bank delivered a third straight hefty rate hike and left space for more tightening to come. The currency has gained 5% this year, outperforming regional peers. Analysts expect those gains to be maintained in 2022. "The crown is becoming more sensitive to the widening interest rate differential (with the euro zone)," Czech bank CSOB said. In Hungary, the forint was largely flat on Tuesday. It has shed 1.8% in 2021, held back by worries including disputes between Budapest and the European Union. The Polish zloty also nudged up less than 0.1%, while Warsaw blue-chips (.WIG20) led gains in central Europe with a 0.9% rise, helped by upbeat global sentiment. Prague stocks (.PX) touched a fresh 13-year high. CEE MARKETS SNAPSHOT AT 1446 CET CURRENCIES Latest Previous Daily Change bid close change in 2021 EURCZK= Czech crown 24.9700 25.0670 +0.39% +5.04% EURHUF= Hungary forint 369.3000 369.4600 +0.04% -1.78% EURPLN= Polish zloty 4.6010 4.6032 +0.05% -0.91% EURRON= Romanian leu 4.9499 4.9503 +0.01% -1.72% EURHRK= Croatian kuna 7.5190 7.5025 -0.22% +0.38% EURRSD= Serbian dinar 117.5500 117.5800 +0.03% +0.02% Note: daily change calculated from 1800 CET STOCKS Latest Previous Daily Change close change in 2021 .PX Prague (.PX) 1422.04 1422.8100 -0.05% +38.45% .BUX Budapest (.BUX) 49784.69 49654.12 +0.26% +18.23% .WIG20 Warsaw (.WIG20) 2245.77 2226.24 +0.88% +13.20% .BETI Bucharest (.BETI) 13000.84 12808.74 +1.50% +32.59% .SBITOP Ljubljana (.SBITOP) 1266.19 1260.96 +0.41% +40.56% .CRBEX Zagreb (.CRBEX) 2056.97 2047.73 +0.45% +18.26% .BELEX15 Belgrade (.BELEX15) 826.21 828.99 -0.34% +10.37% .SOFIX Sofia (.SOFIX) 633.31 633.31 +0.00% +41.51% BONDS Yield Yield Spread Daily (bid) change vs Bund change in Czech Republic spread CZ2YT=RR 2-year 3.6700 0.0050 +431bps +1bps CZ5YT=RR 5-year 3.2990 0.0070 +379bps +1bps CZ10YT=RR 10-year 2.9740 0.0200 +321bps +2bps Poland PL2YT=RR 2-year 3.1790 -0.0120 +382bps -1bps PL5YT=RR 5-year 3.9180 0.0330 +441bps +4bps PL10YT=RR 10-year 3.5360 0.0000 +378bps -1bps FRA 3x6 6x9 9x12 3M interbank Czech Rep 4.61 4.13 3.99 4.05 Hungary 5.06 5.18 5.19 4.05 Poland 3.66 3.90 3.89 2.48 Note: FRA quotes are for ask prices **************************************************************