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| Share trading during the final week of March 2011 was highly volatile, ending in gains for all leading share price indices.
- The TA-25 index, which gained 3.2% over the week, is still 0.4% lower than at the beginning of the year, following a 16% increase in 2010.
- The TA-100 index increased 2.8% this week, but is still 1.3% lower than at the beginning of the year, after gaining 15% in 2010.
- The TA Finance and the TA Real Estate 15 indices stood out this week, jumping 5.6% and 4.8% respectively, while the Tel -Tech 15 index increased 1.6%
- The Israeli government floated bonds on TASE equaling US $300 million, bringing the year-to-date total of new local government bond issues to US $4.3 billion.
- The Governor of the Bank of Israel raised the interest rate by 0.5% to 3% starting in April 2011. This month’s increase in interest rates is the third since the beginning of 2011.
- The Bank of Israel raised its growth forecast for 2011 from 3.8% to 4.5%, similar to the 4.6% growth rate recorded for 2010. The central bank also released figures indicating a significant decline in the national budget deficit from 5.1% of GDP in 2009 to 3.7% in 2010.
- Figures released by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics point to a decrease in unemployment in January 2011 to 6.1%, the lowest level since September 2008. This follows an unemployment rate of 6.3% in the previous month and 6.6% overall in 2010.
- The dollar/NIS exchange rate on March 31 came to 3.481, marking a 2.1% weekly decline. The NIS has appreciated 1.9% against the dollar since the beginning of the year, after appreciating 6% in 2010.
- The Euro/NIS exchange rate on March 31 came to 4.9495, off 1.8% this week against the NIS. The Euro has appreciated 4.5% against the NIS since the beginning of the year, after depreciating 12.9% in 2010.
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