Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof. Stanley Fischer returned today to intervening in the foreign currency market, as the Bank of Israel bought about $100 million. In November, Fischer did not intervene the entire month.
The shekel-dollar rate rose 0.28% to NIS 3.79 after the representative rates were set.
By the end of the day, the representative shekel-dollar exchange rate rose 0.13% to NIS 3.78/$, and the representative shekel-euro exchange rate fell 0.591% to NIS 5.5315/€.
Tomorrow the Central Bureau of Statistics will publish the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for November. Market estimates are for a rise of 0.3%, which would bring inflation over the previous 12 months to 3.6%, above the upper limit of the target 1-3% range. Yashir Investment House says that the main categories that will contribute to higher inflation in the upcoming figures are clothing and shoes, gasoline, and fruits and vegetables. Yashir expects full year inflation for 2009 to reach 4.1%, and to drop to 2.4% over the coming 12 months.
In the US, investors this week will closely scrutinize Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's words accompanying the Fed's interest rate decision. Most investors expect the Fed to keep its Fed Funds rate at its historic low, but will seek hints as to how long that policy is set to continue.
On Friday, the Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar representative exchange rate at NIS 3.775/$, 0.159% lower than the day before, and set the shekel-euro representative exchange rate at NIS 5.5644/€, 0.138% lower than the day before.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 14, 2009
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