The shekel is strengthening against the dollar and weakening against the euro today. In late morning inter-bank trading, the shekel-dollar exchange rate was down 0.64% from yesterday's representative rate at NIS 3.4001/$, and up 0.31% against the euro at 4.2015/€.
Yesterday, the Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar representative rate up 0.029% from Monday's exchange rate at NIS 3.422/$ and set the shekel-euro rate down 0.033% at 4.189/€.
The dollar is struggling on world markets with the dollar index reaching its lowest point since December 2014. In Israel, the shekel-dollar rate is trading at levels not seen since the summer of 2011.
Earlier this week, industrialists and hoteliers met to lament the low shekel-dollar exchange rate and urge action by the government. However, there was little mention of the resurgent euro, with the EU also being one of the country's main export markets. The euro has been buoyed by strong Eurozone data and high consumer confidence.
Last week, the shekel weakened after the Bank of Israel purchased foreign currency to assist exporters and Canada's Potash Corp. sold Israel Chemicals shares worth $700 million but that effect has now faded.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 24, 2018
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