The shekel has strengthened slightly against the major currencies this morning. The shekel-dollar exchange rate is currently down 0.03% in comparison with Friday's representative rate, at NIS 3.7459/$, and the shekel-euro rate is also down 0.03%, at NIS 3.987/€.
FXCM Israel says in its market review this morning, "After the sharp drop during last week, which brought the dollar-shekel pair to a low of NIS 3.73/$, the lowest level since September last year, the pair managed to recover a little towards NIS 3.75/$, as the dollar strengthened on world markets and US T-bond yields rose.
"The factor that helped the dollar stabilize and recover was US President Donald Trump's promise to present a 'phenomenal' program of tax cuts within weeks. The markets have been waiting in the past few weeks for moves by Trump on the economic plane. The fall in the value of the US dollar largely stemmed from Trump's focus on trade wars and his neglect of his promises concerning fiscal expansion and tax reform.
"The meeting between Trump and the Japanese prime minister at the end of the week also pushed the dollar higher, as it raised hopes that it would yield economic benefits in the form of trade agreements and cooperation between the two countries.
"This week's economic diary is fairly empty, and the dollar can be expected to move in response to Trump's statements and actions. On the technical level, the dollar-shekel pair is still under negative pressure, and only a move above NIS 3.77/$ might perhaps change the pair's direction in the short term."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 13, 2017
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