The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) fell today. The Tel Aviv 25 index fell 0.36% to 1091.20 points, the Tel Aviv 100 index fell 0.20% to 1073.32 points, while the Tel-Tech rose 1.76% to 422.72 points. Turnover was NIS 1.69 billion.
The TASE ended the week on a mixed note, as the trading continued under the influence of developments on international markets. The markets seesawed today, rising at the opening, then slumping at mid-morning, before recovering in an afternoon rally that petered out towards the close. The Real Estate 15 index was the day’s major mover, falling 1.9%, mostly in the late afternoon under the impact of the collapse of one of Israel’s largest real estate companies Heftsiba Building Development & Investments Ltd.
Trading was fairly stable in both the foreign currency and bond markets as investors are still undecided about which way the market is heading after the rollercoaster of the past few days. The shekel-dollar exchange rate was unchanged at NIS 4.337, and long-term shekel bonds rose by up to 0.3%.
The Tel Aviv 25 index fell 4% for the week and the Real Estate 15 index was down 8.3%.
In the stock market, the big banks had the session’s largest trading volumes. Bank Hapoalim (LSE: BKHD; TASE: POLI) rose 0.4% and Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) rose 0.8%, pushing the Banking Index up 0.2%.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) rose 1.9%, as analysts heaped praise on the company’s second quarter results, published yesterday. Both Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: CHIM) rose 0.6%, but Makhteshim Agan Industries Ltd. (TASE: MAIN) fell 0.5%.
Among real estate stocks, Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL; Pink Sheets:AFIVY.PK) fell 2.7%. Electra Real Estate Ltd. (TASE:ELCRE) fell 7.6% on news of the collapse of Heftsiba, which it was about to purchase. Investors are now trying to assess the repercussions of the collapse on Electra Real Estate. Africa-Israel subsidiary Danya Cebus Ltd. (TASE: DNYA), which said that it faced a NIS 30 million exposure to Heftsiba, fell 0.5%.
Given Imaging Ltd. (Nasdaq: GIVN; TASE: GIVN) rose 6.8% on strong financials, which helped boost its parent company, Elron Electronic Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: ELRN; TASE: ELRN) 6.3%. Scope Metal Trading and Technical Services Ltd. (TASE: SCOP) rose 3.7% after announcing a share buy back plan.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 2, 2007
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