The shekel is gaining today against the dollar and the euro and is trading at its strongest against the US currency since the Russian invasion of Ukraine more than a month ago. In evening inter-bank trading, the shekel exchange rate is down 0.75% against the dollar at NIS 3.193/$ and down 0.43% against the euro at NIS 3.538/€.
This afternoon, the Bank of Israel set the representative shekel-dollar rate down 0.155% from Monday, at NIS 3.217/$, and the representative shekel-euro rate was set 0.359% higher at NIS 3.553/€.
The dollar is weakening today against major currencies, especially the euro, amid hopes that the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul will yield tangible results. This evening in trading the shekel-dollar rate has dipped below NIS 3.20/$ for the first time since February 18.
If peace talks do gain momentum, this could provoke a stock market rally, which would further strengthen the shekel as Israeli institutional investors are forced to buy shekels to hedge their positions in overseas stock markets.
The Bank of Israel is expected to raise the interest rate from its historic low of 0.1% at its next meeting on April 11, probably to 0.25%, as inflation exceeds the annual target range of 1%-3%.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 29, 2022.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2022.