The shekel-dollar exchange rate is up 1.56% to NIS 3.917/$, and the shekel-euro exchange rate is up 1.33% to NIS 5.3303/€.
This morning, several Katyusha rockets were fired from Lebanon and landed in Nahariya, raising the possibility of a second front in the current fighting against Hamas. While there are claims that a Palestinian group, rather than Hizbullah, fired the missiles, the tension has weakened the shekel, sending the shekel-dollar rate higher.
Foreign exchange trading firm Finotec said that continued fighting is liable to weaken the shekel, if market participants conclude that Israel's economy will suffer from an long lasting ground operation, and that the financial burden on Israeli citizens will increase.
Yesterday, the Bank of Israel set the representative shekel-dollar exchange rate 0.1% lower at NIS 3.857/$, while the representative shekel-euro exchange rate was set sharply higher, up 2.13% at NIS 5.2602/€.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 8, 2009
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