Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Ends Year With Sharp Declines

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange concluded its trading year with significant losses across all major indices. The TA-35 index fell by 1.4%, and the TA-90 index plummeted by 2%, as trading volume reached 3.1 billion shekels. The energy infrastructure sector led the downturn, dropping 3.1%, followed by declines in cleantech, construction, real estate, and dual-listed stocks. Even the banking and biomed sectors, which showed early resilience, succumbed to the negative trend by the close.

Individual stocks also saw substantial movements. OPC Energy, Cannon Amram, Alony Hetz, and Energean each lost over 5%. Conversely, Elbit Systems, Strauss, and Topaz were among the few stocks to finish in positive territory. Real estate firms Israel Canada and Acro experienced notable trading, with both confirming a delay in their merger completion to October 25th. This postponement, despite providing a significant cash flow relief of 310 million shekels over 14 months for Israel Canada, was met with a negative market reaction due to regulatory delays and a decrease in the merged entity's valuation from 10 billion shekels to 7.4 billion shekels.

Navi, a non-bank credit company, stood out with an 11% rise for the month following the appointment of Tzachi Artzi as CEO. Looking back at the entire trading year, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange recorded strong overall gains. The TA-35 index surged over 36%, and the TA-90 index increased by approximately 13%. Most sectoral indices also closed the year in positive territory, with the exception of the TA-Real Estate Abroad index, which lost about 19%. The energy sector was the top performer, soaring over 72%, followed by insurance and cleantech, which rose approximately 70% and 62%, respectively.

On the currency front, the US dollar strengthened against the Israeli shekel, trading up about 0.7% at 3.04 shekels. However, for the year, the dollar saw an overall decrease of about 8.3% against the shekel. The article also briefly touches upon global market trends, including the impact of geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran on oil prices and the US Treasury's bond buyback program.