Shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) may slide today, on the back of recent declines on Wall Street and a further depreciation of the shekel.
The Nasdaq lost 1.4% to 1,348.31 points on Friday, amid concerns about Iraq and North Korea. At the same time, the Dow Jones lost 1.5% to 8,303.78 points. For the week, the Nasdaq fell 1.1% and the Dow fell 2.4%.
In foreign currency trading, the shekel weakened on Friday to the NIS 4.79/$ level - a 0.6% depreciation since Thursday. The decline followed an interview Bank of Israel Governor David Kleingave in Friday's edition of Hebrew daily “Maariv”, in which he said “the collapse of a large bank [in Israel] is not unimaginable.”
Later Friday, Klein slightly corrected himself, saying at a special press conference that the banks had enough capital and were being managed professionally, and there was no danger to the banking system or any specific bank, reported Hebrew daily “Yediot Ahronot”.
There is no foreign currency trade today, but shekel/dollar derivatives on the TASE will reflect the shekel's likely direction tomorrow.
Trading may also be weighed down today by a deadly terror attack on Friday night at a Jewish settlement near Hebron, where four Israelis were killed. Also, an East Jerusalem resident failed early Saturday in his attempt to perpetrate a car bomb attack in central Jerusalem, Israel’s press reported.
Teva (Nasdaq: TEVA), Partner Communications (Nasdaq: PTNR) and NICE-Systems (Nasdaq: NICE) may rise today on the back of positive arbitrage gaps.
Intimate apparel manufacturer Delta Galil Industries (Nasdaq: DELT) may attract interest. The company reported Friday that it received forecast data from two major customers, Wal-Mart and Target, indicating that their orders for Delta products are expected to increase 20% in 2003.
Wal-Mart and Target are Delta's largest mass-market customers, together representing about 25% of its total sales this year.
Arbitrage gaps
| Stock | % Change* |
| Audiocodes | 1.9 |
| Blue Square Israel | -0.8 |
| Delta Galil | -5.1 |
| Elbit Systems | -1.4 |
| Elron | -2.2 |
| Formula | -2.0 |
| Koor | 1.4 |
| Magic | 11.4 |
| Matav | -0.3 |
| Nice | 0.6 |
| Partner | 1.3 |
| Teva | 0.3 |
| Tower | -3.2 |
*%change required in Tel Aviv to meet New York closing price
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on 29 December, 2002