The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) rose today. The Tel Aviv 25 Index rose 0.21% to 1,379.49 points, to reach an all-time high, the Tel Aviv 100 Index rose 0.34% to 1,275.75 points, and the BlueTech 50 Index rose 0.82% to 367.14 points. Turnover was NIS 1.23 billion.
The TASE rose today, in line with gains on European markets and at the opening on Wall Street, as concerns over the Crimea eased a bit. The Tel Aviv 25 Index broke its previous record of 1,377.79 points, reached on December 1, 2013.
In the foreign currency market, the Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar representative exchange rate at NIS 3.462/$, down 0.26% on Friday's rate, and set the shekel-euro representative exchange rate at NIS 4.813/€, down 0.09%.
In the bond market, long-term Shahar unlinked shekel government bonds and long term Galil CPI-linked government bonds fell. The corporate bond benchmark Tel-Bond 20 Index rose 0.03%.
In the stock market, Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) fell 1.8%, for the biggest loss among Tel Aviv 25 shares, on the day's biggest turnover of NIS 175.4 million, after Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) sold its remaining shares in the mobile carrier. Bank Leumi fell 0.3%.
NICE Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: NICE; TASE: NICE) rose 3.4% for the biggest gain among Tel Aviv 25 shares.
In the life sciences, Clal Biotechnology Industries Ltd. (TASE: CBI) rose 8.5% and small-cap Elbit Medical Technologies Ltd. (TASE:EMTC) rose 37.5%, after announcing receipt of an offer to acquire portfolio company Gamida-Cell Ltd., reportedly for up to $600 million. The news boosted Elbit Medical Technologies parent company, Elbit Imaging Ltd. (Nasdaq: EMITF; TASE: EMIT), which rose 21.5%, despite receiving a warning letter from Nasdaq that it was not in compliance with listing requirements.
Bio-Light Israeli Life Sciences Investments Ltd. (TASE:BOLT; Bulletin Board: BLGTY) rose 7.7%, after a new investor; Mazor Robotics Ltd. (Nasdaq: MZOR; TASE:MZOR) fell 0.8%, after selling another robotic spinal surgery system to a hospital in Georgia, US., and small-cap EndyMed Ltd. (TASE: ENDY) rose 0.2%, after obtaining Korea FDA approval for its cosmetic products.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 18, 2014
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