Weekly Review: March 6 - March 10, 2011

Trading on TASE in the second week of March was highly volatile, ending down for most leading TASE indices.
  • The TA-25 index declined approximately 0.8% over the week ending some 4.8% lower than at the beginning of the year, following a 16% increase in 2010.
  • The TA-100 index retreated 1.0% this week and was 5.3% lower than at the beginning of the year, after gaining 15% in 2010.
  • The Tel-Tech 15 fell 3.4%, while the TA Banks and Real Estate-15 index gained 1.0% and 0.3%, respectively.
  • The NASDAQ-listed American IT company, LivePerson, Inc., listed its shares on TASE and will begin trading on Sunday, 13 March 2011. 55 companies currently have shares cross-listed on TASE and foreign exchanges.
  • Figures released by the Bank of Israel indicate that net foreign investment in TASE-traded shares in January 2011 came to US $420 million. In addition, foreign investors invested in “MAKAM” [T-bills] and in non-linked NIS-denominated bonds US $2.8 billion and US $0.8 billion respectively.
  • The Israeli government floated bonds on TASE equaling US $250 million, bringing the year-to-date total of new local government bond issues to US $3.4 billion.
  • The dollar/NIS exchange rate on March 10 came to 3.567, marking a 1.2% weekly decline. The dollar has appreciated 0.5% against the NIS since the beginning of the year, after depreciating 6% in 2010.
  • The Euro/NIS exchange rate on March 10 came to 4.932, dropping 2.1% this week. The Euro has appreciated 4.1% against the NIS since the beginning of the year, after depreciating 12.9% in 2010.