The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) was mixed today. The Tel Aviv 25 Index dipped 0.14% to 1,327.07 points, but the Tel Aviv 100 Index edged up 0.05% to 1,219.27 points, and the BlueTech 50 Index rose 0.98% to 351.70 points. Turnover was NIS 1.21 billion.
In the foreign currency market, the Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar representative exchange rate at NIS 3.507/$, up 0.17% on yesterday's rate, and set the shekel-euro representative exchange rate at NIS 4.766/€, down 0.22%.
In the bond market, long-term Shahar unlinked shekel government bonds and long term Galil CPI-linked government bonds were mixed. The corporate bond benchmark Tel-Bond 20 Index fell 0.04%.
In the stock market, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA; TASE: TEVA) rose 1.6%, on the day's biggest turnover of NIS 119.2 million, after announcing that it had made an offer to acquire NuPathe Inc. (NYSE: PATH). Opko Health Inc. (NYSE: OPK; TASE: OPK) rose 0.3%, after announcing that it had acquired Laboratorio Arama de Uruguay Ltda. for an undisclosed amount.
Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE: ESLT) rose 2.1%, for the biggest gain among Tel Aviv 25 shares, and Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT) fell 2% for the biggest loss. Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) fell 1.4% and Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI) fell 0.5%.
Elsewhere in the market, IDB Holding Corp. Ltd. (TASE:IDBH) fell another 4.8%, on top of yesterday's 51.7% plunge, after announcing that the Manor family had sold its stake in the company.
In biomed, Compugen Ltd. (Nasdaq: CGEN; TASE: CGEN) rose another 5.8%, following yesterday's announcement that it was expanding its immune-oncology drug development program. Pluristem Therapeutics Ltd. (Nasdaq:PSTI; TASE: PLTR) rose 1.6%, after announcing that it had obtained an Australian patent for its stem-cell treatment. XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. (Nasdaq:XTLB); TASE:XTL) rose 13.9%, after signing a licensing agreement for its Lupus treatment, BiolineRX Ltd. (Nasdaq: BLRX); TASE:BLRX) rose 3.9%, after announcing a collaboration on its Type 1 diabetes treatment with a Taiwanese company, and Exalenz Bioscience Ltd. (TASE:EXEN) rose 9.1% on a new US patent.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 8, 2014
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