The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) fell today. The Tel Aviv 25 Index fell 0.95% to 1,105.07 points, the Tel Aviv 100 Index fell 0.78% to 1,027.92 points, but the Tel-Tech Index rose 0.82% to 235.55 points. Turnover was NIS 1.43 billion.
After a positive opening, the TASE quickly turned tail and fell steadily for the rest of the session. Future's contracts pointed to gains at the opening on Wall Street, but the opening was mixed.
In the bond market, long-term Shahar bonds fell by up to 0.1%, and long term CPI-linked Galil bonds ranged between losses of 0.1% and gains of 0.1%. The corporate bond benchmark Tel-Bond 20 Index fell 0.07%.
In the foreign currency market, the shekel-dollar representative exchange rate fell 0.03% to NIS 3.859/$, but the shekel-euro representative exchange rate rose 0.96% to NIS 4.90/€.
In the stock market, Makhteshim Agan Industries Ltd. (TASE: MAIN) fell 3.7% for the biggest loss among Tel Aviv 25 shares. The generic agrochemicals company's Australian rival Nufarm Ltd. (ASX: NUF) published a profit warning for the second quarter.
Mobile carriers continued to be a focus of attention. Excellence Nessuah said that the new pricing mechanism announced by Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) was "just one of the measures that the mobile carriers are undertaking to minimize the damage to their profits." Partner fell 1.1%.
Rival Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) rose 0.4% to NIS 100.90. Bank Hapoalim today cut its price target for the share from NIS 135 to NIS 100.
The Banking Index fell 1.5%, with Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI) down 1.8% and Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) down 1.8%. Mizrahi Tefahot Bank (TASE:MZTF) rose 1.6% for the biggest gain among Tel Aviv 25 shares, and First International Bank of Israel (TASE: FTIN1;FTIN5) rose 0.5% after announcing the end of the 12-day strike at the bank.
The Real Estate 15 Index fell 1.4%, with Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL) down 4.1%.
EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. (Nasdaq: EZCH; TASE:EZCH) led technology shares upwards, with a rise of 4.4%, after RBC Capital Markets initiated coverage of the share with an "Outperform" recommendation and a target price of $24.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 14, 2010
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010