The appreciation of the shekel continues despite the tension on the northern border, which saw two IDF soldiers killed yesterday in the Har Dov region. The shekel is strengthening against the dollar and the euro in inter-bank trading this afternoon. The shekel-dollar exchange rate is trading down 0.34% at NIS 3.9314/$ and the shekel is trading down 0.91% against the euro at NIS 4.442/€.
Yesterday, the Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar representative exchange rate at NIS 3.945/$, down 1.252% on Tuesday's rate, and set the shekel-euro representative exchange rate at NIS 4.483/€, down 0.431%.
FXCM Israel Research Department said this morning, "The shekel-dollar exchange rate is losing height and trading in the region of NIS 3.94/$. The false breakthrough above NIS 4/$ and the fall below NIS 3.95/$, have taken the wind out of the sails of long position traders and it looks like the exchange rate has returned to the NIS 3.90-3.95/$ range."
"The US Federal Reserve interest rate decision has not changed the picture after the bank reiterated last month's rhetoric and said it would behave "patiently" regarding the timing of any interest rate hike. The Fed took a relatively positive position on the economy but the dollar reacted with restraint to this. The risks to the global economy are substantial and include the euro bloc economic and political crisis, the continued fall in oil prices, and the developing economic problems of China and Japan. All these are making investors more cautious in their assessments, and despite the improved economic situation in the US, it is hard to see the Fed raising the interest rate in the next six months."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 29, 2015
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