The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) rose today. The Tel Aviv 25 Index rose 0.38% to 1,185.92 points, the Tel Aviv 100 Index rose 0.41% to 1,050.01 points, and the BlueTech 50 Index rose 0.44% to 315.04 points. Turnover was NIS 942.4 million.
The TASE snapped its losing streak with slight gains today, despite a mixed session on European markets but in line with gains at the opening on Wall Street.
In the foreign currency market, the Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar representative exchange rate at NIS 3.747/$, up 0.03% on Monday's rate, and set the shekel-euro representative exchange rate at NIS 4.953/€, down 0.04%.
In the bond market, long-term Shahar unlinked shekel government bonds were unchanged and long term Galil CPI-linked government bonds ranged between losses of 0.1% and gains of 0.1%. The corporate bond benchmark Tel-Bond 20 Index rose 0.08%.
In the stock market, banks corrected upwards today, led by a 1.5% gain by Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT) and a 1.4% gain by Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI). Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI) rose 0.4%.
Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) fell 0.6% to NIS 4.24, after the ViaEuropa AB consortium today submitted its bid in the tender for Israel Electric Corporation's (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22) fiber optic venture. Excellence Brokerage reiterated its "Buy" recommendation and target price of NIS 5.20, saying, "This is undoubtedly bad news for Bezeq, but it is necessary to take into account that the realization of the venture and turning it into a real threat is still a long way off."
Mobile carriers also rose. Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) rose 1.9% for the biggest gain among Tel Aviv 25 shares, correcting yesterday's losses, and Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) rose 0.8%.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) fell 0.1% on the day's biggest turnover of NIS 57 million.
On the Tel Aviv 100 Index, Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (Nasdaq:NVMI; TASE:NVMI) rose 6.1%, after announcing new orders worth $15 million. Babylon Ltd. (TASE:BBYL) rose another 3.9% on top of yesterday's gain of 9.4%.
Midcap oil and gas exploration shares fell hard today. Modiin Energy LP (TASE:MDIN.L) fell another 23.4%, after disclosing details about its planned offering. Globe Exploration LP (TASE: GLEX.L) fell 10.9%, and Ishai licensee Israel Opportunity Energy Resources LP (TASE: ISOP.L) fell 8.3%.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 26, 2012
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