The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) fell slightly today. The Tel Aviv 25 Index fell 0.12% to 1,064.68 points, the Tel Aviv 100 Index fell 0.14% to 976.43 points, and the BlueTech 50 Index was unchanged at 331.68 points. Turnover was NIS 684.1 million.
The TASE ended the day down for the third straight day, after seesawing during the day in line with a mixed day on European markets and gains on Wall Street.
In the bond market, long-term Shahar unlinked government were unchanged and long-term Galil CPI-linked ranged between losses of 0.1% and gains of 0.1%. The corporate bond benchmark Tel-Bond 20 Index rose 0.11%.
In the foreign currency market, the Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar representative exchange rate at NIS 3.939$, up 0.64% on yesterday's rate, and set the shekel-euro representative exchange rate at NIS 4.918€, up 0.61%.
In the stock market, telcos continued to slide, led by a 2.4% drop by Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR), for the biggest loss among Tel Aviv 25 shares. Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) fell 1.8%. Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) was unchanged.
NICE Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: NICE; TASE: NICE) fell 2.2%, but Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:MLNX; TASE:MLNX) rose 0.8% and EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. (Nasdaq: EZCH; TASE:EZCH) rose 0.9%.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) fell 1.8% on the day's biggest turnover of NIS 58 million, but Perrigo Company (Nasdaq:PRGO; TASE:PRGO) rose 1.6%.
Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) corrected upwards 2.6% for the day's biggest gain among Tel Aviv 25 shares. However, its gas exploration units continued to slide, with Avner Oil and Gas LP (TASE: AVNR.L) and Delek Drilling LP (TASE: DEDR.L) down 0.3% and 0.9%, while Isramco Ltd. (Nasdaq: ISRL; TASE: ISRA.L) fell 1.5%.
Elsewhere in the market, the Insurance Index fell 1.5%, led by a 2.1% drop by Migdal Insurance and Financial Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MGDL) as the weakness of the TASE is expected to hit the companies' financial results.
Frutarom Industries Ltd. (TASE: FRUT; LSE:FRUT; Pink Sheets:FRUTF) rose 0.6% after obtaining €50 million in loans from two Swiss banks. Compugen Ltd. (Nasdaq: CGEN; TASE: CGEN) rose another 4.4% after announcing its joint venture with Germany's Merck Serono.
IDB Holding Corp. Ltd. (TASE:IDBH) life sciences investment unit Elron Electronic Industries Ltd. (TASE: ELRN) rose 2.3% after announcing a $15 million dividend.
Premium (PIH) Holdings Ltd. (TASE: PIH) corrected downward 16.8%.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 26, 2012
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