The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) was mixed today. The Tel Aviv 25 Index edged down 0.05% to 638.03 points, but the Tel Aviv 100 Index rose slightly by 0.07% to 576.11 points, and the Tel-Tech rose 0.59% to 141.23 points. Turnover was NIS 895.4 million.
The TASE fell sharply at the opening and stayed down on low trading volumes for most of the session. Futures contracts on Wall Street pointed to lower share prices, although the market actually opened with gains. These gains gave the TASE a late rally that pulled the leading indices back to around their starting levels.
In the bond market, long-term Shahar shekel bonds rose by up to 0.3% and long-term Galil CPI-linked bonds rose by up to 0.8%. Prices for corporate bonds also rose, and the Tel-Bond 60 Index climbed 0.6%,
In the foreign currency market, the shekel-dollar exchange rate rose 0.26% to NIS 4.245/$, but the shekel-euro exchange rate fell 0.46% to NIS 5.341/€.
In the stock market, Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL; Pink Sheets:AFIVY) was the center of attention, after publishing a profit warning for the fourth quarter of 2008, its second consecutive quarterly warning. The company expects to report the largest quarterly loss in its history, which will also be the largest loss ever to be reported by an Israeli company.
The announcement could have been expected to send Africa-Israel's share plummeting, but the news had been expected, and the share fell 7.2%.
Bank shares continued to fall today. The Banking Index fell 1.7%, dragged down by a 3% loss by Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI), a 2.7% loss by Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT), and a 1.7% drop by Mizrahi Tefahot Bank (TASE:MZTF). Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI; LSE:80OA) was unchanged.
Excellence Investments analyst Terrence Klingman advised buying bank shares in his latest market survey, in which he raised his recommendation for Bank Hapoalim and Discount Bank to "Buy".
Among shares that rose today, Israel Corporation (TASE: ILCO) gained 8.1% thanks to a 3.8% rise by subsidiary Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: ICL). Israel Chemicals benefited from news on the fertilizer front indicated a positive change in the industry in the second quarter of the year.
Biotechnology drug developer Kamada Ltd. (TASE: KMDA) rose 7.1% after announcing a contract to develop and provide snake venom antiserum for the Ministry of Health.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 9, 2009
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