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| • The TA-25 index lost 2.8% over the week, bringing year-to-date losses to 3.2%.
• The TA-100 index fell 1.8% over the week, off 0.8% since the beginning of the year.
• The TA Banks index decreased 3.7%, while the TA BlueTech-50 index slightly up 0.2% and the TA Real Estate-15 index stood out this week, gaining 1.5%. Year-to-date, the TA BlueTech-50 has increased 20%, the TA Real Estate-15 gained 3%, while the TA Banks index lost 4%.
• It is worth noting that TA Com index, launched in April of last year, declined 9% this past week, losing 41% since the beginning of the year. This follows a negative return of 37% in 2011. This continual downward trend can be attributed to the ongoing erosion of profitability of Israel's telecom companies, resulting from increased competition in this industry.
• NASDAQ-listed biomed company, PhotoMedex, began trading on TASE as well at the beginning of May. As of 20 May, the company's shares joined the TA-100, TA Biomed and TA BlueTech-50 indices under the index "fast-track" arrangement
• The Government of Israel floated US $512 million bonds on the local market this past week, bringing the year-to-date total of government bond issues to US $8.4 billion.
• The Bank of Israel released April's Composite State-of-the-Economy index indicating a 0.2% growth rate for the month. This month's index signals a continuation of Israel's economic expansion, albeit at a slower pace than in 2011.
• The NIS/US dollar exchange rate on 24 May came to 3.847 a weekly increase of 0.2% against the shekel. Since the beginning of the year, the dollar has appreciated 0.7% against the NIS.
• The NIS/Euro exchange rate on 24 May came to 4.8359, a decrease of 0.7% relative to the previous week. Since the beginning of the year, the Euro has depreciated 2.1% against the NIS.
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