The shekel continued to strengthen against the dollar today, although the appreciation eased after the Bank of Israel again intervened in the market, buying up to $200 million.
The Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar representative exchange rate at NIS 3.58/$, 0.36% below yesterday's rate. The shekel-euro representative exchange rate was set at NIS 5.044/€, up 0.57%.
Yesterday, too the Bank of Israel intervened in the market, reportedly buying $150-200 million.
The dollar's decline also continued on international markets. The euro strengthened 0.9% to $1.41/€, a level last seen in January 2010. The pound rose 0.75% against the dollar.
The dealing room of online foreign exchange trader Prico warned its customers today that the recent exchange rate volatility indicates potential for wide movement in exchange rates. It believes that the shekel-dollar exchange rate will fall to new lows. Prico CEO Yossi Frieman said that the long term direction was unequivocally downward. He believes that, in early 2011, as soon as the shekel-dollar exchange rate falls below NIS 3.50/$, the next level will be the 2008 low point of NIS 3.23/$, an important psychological level.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 14, 2010
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