Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Plummets Following Trump’s Security Escalation Comments

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange experienced sharp declines on Wednesday morning amid heightened security tensions and escalating conflict in the Middle East. The market reaction followed U.S. President Donald Trump’s statements signaling the end of agreements between involved parties, which intensified investor concerns. By 11:50 a.m., the TA-35 index had fallen by 0.82%, the TA-125 dropped 1.13%, and the TA-90 suffered the largest loss of 1.38%. Leading the declines were shares of Nofar Energy, down 5.57%, and Nayax, which fell 5.23% after reporting a cyberattack on a cloud account of one of its subsidiaries. Other significant losers included Keystone Infra (-4.5%) and Enlight Energy (-4.44%). Conversely, Arit Industries led gains with a 3.39% rise, while financial sector stocks showed relative resilience, with Bank Hapoalim up 2.02%, Mizrahi Tefahot rising 1.72%, and First International Bank increasing 1.5%. Energean also gained 2.01%. The highest trading volumes were seen in shares of Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot, Tower Semiconductor, and Nova.

In the foreign exchange market, the Israeli shekel weakened significantly, continuing a recent downward trend following the Bank of Israel’s interest rate cut and intervention in the currency market during June. The U.S. dollar surged 1% to trade at 3.06 shekels, while the euro strengthened 0.7% to around 3.48 shekels.

Globally, the dramatic statements also affected markets in New York, where futures contracts on the Nasdaq fell 0.5% after being stable earlier in the day. Meanwhile, rising geopolitical tensions and U.S. strikes in Iran pushed global oil prices up by approximately 3%. The U.S. Dollar Index remained steady near 101.1 points against a basket of major currencies.