Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Awaits Opening Amid Mixed Wall Street and Sharp Oil Price Gains

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange is set to open following a mixed session on Wall Street and significant rises in oil prices. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones increased by 1%, the S&P 500 edged up 0.2%, while the Nasdaq declined by 0.2%. Meanwhile, Brent and WTI crude oil prices surged by 4.3%, potentially impacting energy sector stocks in Tel Aviv. The Israeli shekel weakened against other currencies, and U.S. 10-year Treasury yields rose slightly to 4.62%, with Israeli 10-year bond yields at 3.88%.

In corporate news, Shikun & Binui and Generation Capital are nearing the final stages of a deal to acquire Shikun & Binui Energy for 4.3 billion shekels, plus an additional 150 million shekels for the elapsed period until closing. This follows several extensions of exclusivity. Separately, the Israel Securities Authority has required Israir and Rami Levy to publish a supplementary report ahead of a shareholders meeting to approve a related-party transaction involving Rami Levy’s customer club. The meeting has been postponed twice due to differing views on the transaction’s materiality.

Additionally, American investment fund Affinity Partners, led by Jared Kushner and backed by Gulf sovereign wealth funds, sold 2.5% of its holdings in Phoenix Insurance for 1.05 billion shekels. Affinity retains a 7.4% stake valued at 3.3 billion shekels. The main portion of the sale, about 1.6%, was purchased by U.S. institutional investor Fidelity.

On the security front, the U.S. Central Command reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched several ballistic missiles in an attempted surprise attack on U.S. forces in the Middle East. In response, U.S. and Saudi forces struck logistics and weapons storage sites linked to Iran-affiliated terrorist groups in eastern Iraq, following over 30 drone attacks in recent days.

Yesterday, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange closed sharply lower, with the TA-35 and TA-125 indices down 1.8%, and the TA Banks index falling 1.3%. Energy sector stocks were notably weak, with renewable energy, cleantech, and energy infrastructure indices dropping between 3.4% and 3.8%. Market participants await the Federal Reserve’s policy announcement later today for further direction.