Israeli Stock Market Surges Amid Government Formation Hopes
Translated & summarized from Ice by baba
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange closed Tuesday with significant gains, as the TA-35 index rose 2.17% and the TA-125 index increased by 2.02%, driven by optimism over new government formation. Insurance and banking stocks led the market, while government bonds also saw continued increases. U.S. inflation data, however, surprised to the upside, potentially impacting future bond market performance.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Israeli stock market indices TA-35 and TA-125 closed Tuesday with gains of 2.17% and 2.02% respectively.
- Insurance and banking sector stocks led the market's upward trend on Tuesday.
- Government bond trading continued its rally, supported by expectations of a new government.
- U.S. inflation data exceeded forecasts, increasing expectations for a December interest rate hike.
- Higher U.S. yields could potentially moderate gains in Israeli government bonds.
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange concluded Tuesday's trading session with significant gains across its main indices, buoyed by positive sentiment surrounding the formation of a new government. The TA-35 index climbed 2.17% to close at 4,100.78 points, while the TA-125 index rose 2.02% to 3,977.57 points. The TA-90 index also saw an increase of 1.59%.
Leading the upward trend were shares in the insurance and banking sectors. The TA-Insurance index jumped 3.72%, the TA-Banks-5 index advanced 3.30%, and the TA-Finances index added 3.19%. Total trading volume in stocks reached approximately 4.7 billion shekels.
Among the top performers, Next Vision's stock surged 6.78%, followed by Amram, which grew 5.06%. OPC Energy saw a positive change of 4.82%, and Afcon Holdings increased by 4.67%. Alony Hetz also posted a gain of 4.52%.
Conversely, Topaz shares experienced the largest decline, dropping 6.22%. RP Optical saw its stock fall 3.34%, and Avisror decreased by 2.97%. El Al Israel Airlines' stock dipped 2.78%, and Shufersal's shares fell 2.35%.
In the government bond market, a rally continued, attributed to expectations of a new government and a recent decline in U.S. Treasury yields. The Tel-Gov General index rose 0.13%, with the Tel-Gov Shekel and Tel-Gov Linked indices adding 0.18% and 0.10% respectively. Corporate bonds also performed well, with the Tel-Bond Shekel index up 0.31%.
Trading volume in bonds totaled around 6.1 billion shekels, with short-term government bonds (Makams) trading at approximately 895 million shekels. The U.S. dollar was trading at 3.1610 shekels, the euro at 3.5464 shekels, and the British pound at 4.2441 shekels.
Meanwhile, Wall Street indices traded lower following higher-than-expected U.S. inflation data for October. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4%, exceeding the 0.3% forecast, and the core index increased by 0.3%, above the 0.2% projection. This data has strengthened expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate hike in December, pushing the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield to around 4.97%. A continued rise in U.S. yields could potentially temper the gains seen in Israeli government bonds.
