Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Ends Mixed; El Al Soars on Dubai Air Incident

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange concluded the final trading day of September with mixed results. The TA-35 index saw a slight decline of approximately 0.4%, while the TA-90 index experienced a modest gain of about 0.6%. Over the entire month, the TA-35 index rose by roughly 1.6%, the TA-90 index fell by approximately 2.7%, and the TA-125 index increased by about 0.5%.

Several stocks garnered significant attention. Defense tech firm Smart Shooter surged by nearly 30% after announcing a strategic contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to supply its SMASH drone interception systems, potentially worth up to $150 million. Alrov Real Estate also jumped by close to 20% following a takeover bid from businessman Alfred Akirov for the public's stake, valued at 788 million shekels. This move could lead to Alrov's delisting and facilitate Akirov's acquisition of Allon Insurance.

Fintech company Nayax saw its stock climb over 8% after its co-founder and VP purchased shares worth approximately $127,000. In the aviation sector, shares of Israir and El Al experienced sharp increases. This surge is attributed to investor speculation that a recent incident involving a Flydubai flight, which diverted to Saudi Arabia due to a pilot dispute, might open the door for Israeli airlines to resume flights to the UAE.

Dual-listed semiconductor stocks, including Camtek, Nova, and Tower, also performed well due to positive arbitrage gaps from Wall Street. The total trading volume for the day reached approximately 3.56 billion shekels. The market opened with slight gains, with the TA-35 and TA-90 indices up around 0.1% and 0.2% respectively, boosted by semiconductor stocks returning from Wall Street with favorable arbitrage differentials.