The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) fell today. The Tel Aviv 25 Index fell 0.17% to 1,230.12 points, the Tel Aviv 100 Index fell 0.19% to 1,096.43 points, and the BlueTech 50 Index fell 0.17% to 304.37 points. Turnover was NIS 1.02 billion.
The TASE fell today, despite gains on European markets, but in line with losses at the opening on Wall Street.
The Tel Aviv 25 Index was unchanged for the week, after falling 0.6% last week.
In the foreign currency market, the Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar representative exchange rate at NIS 3.639/$, down 0.28% on yesterday's rate, and set the shekel-euro representative exchange rate at NIS 4.775/€, down 0.07%.
In the bond market, long-term Shahar unlinked shekel government bonds were unchanged, and long term Galil CPI-linked government ranged rose by up to 0.3%. The corporate bond benchmark Tel-Bond 20 Index rose 0.6%.
In the stock market, Israel Corporation (TASE: ILCO) and subsidiary Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: ICL) continued to fall sharply today. Israel Chemicals fell 3.2%, for the biggest loss among Tel Aviv 25 shares, on the day's biggest turnover of NIS 169 million. Israel Corp. fell 2.1%. Yesterday, Israel Corp. fell 5.9% and Israel Chemicals fell 3.9%, after Minister of Finance Yair Lapid said that he would conduct a militant policy to keep Israel's natural treasures, amid talks on a merger between Israel Chemicals and rival Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (NYSE; TSX: POT).
Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) rose 2.4%, but Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) fell 0.4%, and Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) fell 1.5%. The Communications Index rose 0.1%. Cellcom and Partner rose sharply in the two preceding sessions on investors' assessments that prices have bottomed out in the competition between mobile carriers.
Elsewhere in the market, Prolor Biotech Inc. (AMEX: PBTH; TASE: PBTH) rose 4.3% on reports of a possible sale. BiolineRX Ltd. (Nasdaq: BLRX); TASE:BLRX) corrected downward 7%, after yesterday's 12.5% jump. Pluristem Therapeutics Ltd. (Nasdaq:PSTI; DAX: PJT: PLTR) rose 2.2%, after announcing that its partner, United Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq: UTHR), received approval for a Phase I clinical trial in Australia on Pluristem's stem cells for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. The Biomed Index rose 0.6%.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 11, 2013
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