The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) rose today. The Tel Aviv 25 Index rose 0.86% to 1,275.98 points, the Tel Aviv 100 Index rose 0.73% to 1,175.85 points, and the Tel-Tech Index rose 0.53% to 236.15 points. Turnover was NIS 1.73 billion.
The TASE rose today, and is just 0.1% shy of its all-time high, reached in early November.
In the bond market, long-term Shahar unlinked government bonds were unchanged, and long-term Galil CPI-linked bonds rose by up to 0.2%. The corporate bond benchmark Tel-Bond 20 Index rose 0.15%.
In the foreign currency market, options pointed to a 0.14% drop in the shekel-dollar exchange to NIS 3.638/$, and a 0.28% drop in the shekel-euro exchange rate to NIS 4.974/€.
In the stock market, oil and gas exploration companies again stood out, as investors wait for the results of the Leviathan exploration well. Two of Leviathan and Tamar partners, Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) subsidiaries Avner Oil and Gas LP (TASE: AVNR.L) and Delek Drilling LP (TASE: DEDR.L), also published higher profits for the third quarter financials on Thursday.
Avner rose 2.5%, Delek Drilling rose 4%, and Delek Group fell 0.1%. Their partner in Tamar, Isramco Ltd. (Nasdaq: ISRL; TASE: ISRA.L), rose 3.4%, and their partner in Leviathan, Ratio Oil Exploration (1992) LP (TASE:RATI.L), rose 4.2% on the day's third largest turnover of NIS 117.1 million.
Makhteshim Agan Industries Ltd. (TASE: MAIN) fell 4.8%, the biggest loss among Tel Aviv 25 companies, on the day's largest turnover of NIS 118.9 million, after it announced that China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina) cut its offer for the company.
Israel Corporation (TASE: ILCO) rose 2.3%. Psagot Investment House Ltd. raised its recommendation for the share to "Buy", saying, "The improvement in subsidiary Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. will boost profit compared with the corresponding quarter." Israel Corp's main subsidiary, Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: ICL), rose 1% on the day's second largest turnover of NIS 117.9 million.
Israel Corp's third major subsidiary, Oil Refineries Ltd. (TASE:ORL) was unchanged after it reported a lower net profit for the third quarter.
Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI) rose 0.5%, and Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) rose 0.9%. Meitav Investment House Ltd. said today, "We believe there is 5-10% upside potential in bank shares."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 21, 2010
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