Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Sees Strong Week, TA-90 Index Soars
Translated & summarized from Ice by baba
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange finished a strong week with the TA-90 index jumping 5.1%, outperforming global markets. The bond market also saw gains, influenced by U.S. yields and Israeli inflation data. The banking sector raised approximately 5 billion shekels in debt offerings, contributing to a year-to-date total of 60 billion shekels. In contrast to global trends, the U.S. dollar strengthened against the Israeli shekel.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- The TA-90 index surged 5.1% this week, leading the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's strong performance.
- Local stock indices outperformed Wall Street, which saw significant declines.
- The bond market experienced gains, with government and corporate bonds rising.
- Israeli banks raised approximately 5 billion shekels in debt offerings.
- The U.S. dollar strengthened against the Israeli shekel, contrary to global trends.
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange concluded a particularly strong trading week, with local market indices outperforming global markets. The TA-90 index led the gains, surging approximately 5.1% over the week. The TA-125 index rose about 4.2%, and the flagship TA-35 index increased by approximately 4.0%. Year-to-date, the TA-35 shows a significant return of about 16.3%, the TA-125 is up 11.7%, while the TA-90 still lags with a negative return of about 2.9%.
These positive performances in Tel Aviv contrasted sharply with Wall Street, which experienced significant declines, particularly in technology and chip stocks, due to investor concerns about AI investment levels and debt. The bond market also saw gains, with government bonds experiencing price increases and yield decreases, especially those with longer maturities. Corporate bonds followed a similar trend.
The bond market's positive momentum was influenced by falling U.S. yields, a surprisingly low Israeli consumer price index, and market expectations regarding the Bank of Israel's upcoming interest rate decision. In debt fundraising, approximately 9 billion shekels were raised across nine bond issuances, with the banking sector and financial instrument companies dominating activity. Bank Leumi and Bank Discount alone raised about 5 billion shekels, bringing the total bank fundraising for the year to about 60 billion shekels.
Equity fundraising was modest, totaling around 7 million shekels. The mutual fund market showed relative stability with net redemptions of about 37 million shekels. Traditional active funds saw redemptions of about 378 million shekels, while passive funds attracted about 341 million shekels, primarily those tracking major Israeli indices and foreign bonds.
In foreign currency trading, the U.S. dollar strengthened by about 1.1% against the shekel, while the Euro rose 1.4% and the British Pound gained 1.9%. This trend of dollar strengthening in Israel was contrary to global markets, where the dollar index weakened.
