The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) rose today. The Tel Aviv 25 Index rose 1.41% to 1,198.38 points, the Tel Aviv Index 100 Index rose 1.08% to 1,056.44 points, and the BlueTech 50 Index rose 0.24% to 326.18 points. Turnover was NIS 424.6 million.
The TASE rose strongly in very thin today, recovering much of last week's losses, as Operation Pillar of Cloud entered its fifth day. On Friday, European markets fell but Wall Street rose.
In the bond market, long-term Shahar unlinked government bonds rose by up to 0.2%, but long-term Galil CPI-linked bonds fell by up to 0.3%. The corporate bond benchmark Tel-Bond 20 Index fell 0.18%.
In the foreign currency market, options pointed to a 0.15% gain by the shekel-dollar exchange rate, compared with Friday's representative rate, to NIS 2.938/$, and to a 0.02% gain by the shekel-euro exchange rate to NIS 5.041/€.
In the stock market, Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: ICL) rose 0.4%. Psagot Investment House Ltd. today predicted that the company will report weak results for the third quarter later this week.
Energy exploration companies roses strongly today. Tamar and Leviathan partners Avner Oil and Gas LP (TASE: AVNR.L) and Delek Drilling LP (TASE: DEDR.L) rose 2.6% and 2.3%, respectively, and their parent company, Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG), rose 2.7%. Their Tamar partner Isramco Ltd. (Nasdaq: ISRL; TASE: ISRA.L) rose 1.2%, and their Leviathan partner, Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP (TASE:RATI.L), rose 6%.
Mid-Cap 120 listed Israel Opportunity Energy Resources LP (TASE: ISOP.L), rose 3.6%, after Clal Finance reiterated its "Buy" recommendation, saying, "There is still a market failure in the price."
Banks rose strongly, led by a 4% gain by Mizrahi Tefahot Bank (TASE:MZTF) for the biggest gain among Tel Aviv 25 shares. Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI) rose 2.2% on the day's biggest turnover of NIS 40.3 million, and Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) rose 1.8%. The Banking Index rose 2%.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) and Strauss Group Ltd. (TASE:STRS) were the only holdouts among Tel Aviv 25 companies, falling 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively.
Elsewhere in the market, Middle East Tube Ltd. (METCO) (TASE: TUBE) rose 5.8%, after publishing strong results for the third quarter and announcing a NIS 6 million dividend.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 18, 2012
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