The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange started today's session under the cloud of uncertainty generated by the state of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's health. Sharon was taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital at 20:00 last night after his speech became confused, and he was found to have suffered a mild stroke.
A statement from the prime minister's bureau last night said, "Preliminary tests indicated that he had suffered a light stroke; during the tests, his condition began to improve. The prime minister was fully conscious the entire time. He did not require invasive procedures and has been hospitalized in the internal medicine ward for observation. He is currently speaking with his sons and personnel from his bureau. At the hospital, it is estimated that he will be discharged soon."
This morning, the prime minister's condition is reported to have improved further. He is not confined to his bed or on any kind of support system. A decision on whether he should leave hospital will be made later today on the basis of MRI tests.
On the stock market, this morning's declines have been led by chemicals and banking stocks. The Tel Aviv 25 index is currently down 0.63$, at 808.70.
Among today's outstanding stocks are those recommended by HSBC, which retained its "Neutral" rating for Israeli stocks in general. HSBC's recommendations are Bank Hapoalim (LSE: BKHD ; TASE: POLI), Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) in the banking sector, and Bezeq (TASE: BZEQ) in telecommunications, and NICE Systems (Nasdaq: NICE ; TASE: NICE) and lipman in the technology sector. HSBC says Israel Chemicals (TASE: CHIM) and MA Industries (Makhteshim Agan) (TASE: MAIN) are fully priced.
Elbit Systems (Nasdaq: ESLT ; TASE: ESLT) is a stock arousing interest following a series of announcements of large contract wins. Yesterday, the company reported that its Elop unit had won a contract worth $ 50 million to supply aerial photography systems to the South Korean air force.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on December 19, 2005