The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) trend was mixed today. The Tel Aviv 25 index closed up 0.12% at 537.10 points, but the Tel Aviv 100 index fell 0.01% to 576.18 points, and the Tel-Tech 15 index fell 0.33% to 402.60 points. Turnover totaled NIS 401 million.
The TASE finished another positive week with a mixed trend today, in line with the mixed trend at the end of yesterday’s trading on Wall Street. Yesterday’s steep 5.5% decline in the price of oil, from $42.33 per barrel to less than $40, aroused no sharp response in the US stock market. The TASE was also unmoved, with low activity by the players.
The Tel Aviv 100 wound up 0.8% higher on the week, and the Tel Aviv 25 gained 0.7%. The Tel-Tech index surged 2.1% on the week, rising above the 400-point level it last saw a month ago.
Another black eye for Bezeq
The leading capital market story this week belongs to Bezeq and the unsuccessful effort to sell 6% of the company on the TASE. Yesterday’s tender attracted demand of only NIS 300 million, less than half of the original offering of NIS 770 million. The main reason for the failure was a lack of demand from foreign investors, whose orders totaled only a few million dollars.
The Bezeq share has been very weak, and trading volume heavy, since trading in it resumed at 2:30 PM yesterday. The share slid 2.3% on an NIS 81 million turnover yesterday, and dropped a further 1.8% on a large NIS 38 million turnover.
Trading was also heavy in the Bank Hapoalim share. Shares in the bank worth NIS 300 million held by the bank’s employees are slated for unblocking next week. The market believes that some employees will choose to sell their shares and take their 35% profit, despite the continuation loans that Bank Hapoalim is offering them to keep their shares.
Despite concern over possible negative pressure, the Bank Hapoalim share has risen 8.5% over the past two weeks. Trading has been quite heavy in recent days yesterday’s turnover was about NIS 80 million. Today was profit-taking time for the share, which slipped 1.4% on a lively NIS 45 million turnover, the day’s largest.
MA Industries still climbing
Makhteshim-Agan (MA) Industries continued to attract great interest and a positive trend, after the company’s management presented its five-year strategy yesterday. MA Industries has set a sales target of $1.8 billion by 2008, and a net profit ratio target of 9-10% of turnover. The company plans to achieve its goals through positive geographical diversification of its sales, by introducing new products, and by acquiring companies, mostly for distribution purposes.
Judging by its targets, MA Industries’ forecast appears rather modest average yearly growth of only 10%. The capital market, however, unanimously agrees that the company deliberately published a conservative forecast, believing it is better to give the market a positive surprise than a negative one.
Despite the conservative forecast, the MA Industries share has been on the move in the past two days. After yesterday’s 0.8% gain, it added 1.5% more today on a lively NIS 28 million turnover.
The Teva share dipped 0.1% on a relatively quiet NIS 27 million turnover today, after starting the day with no arbitrage gap whatsoever. Israel Chemicals climbed 0.7%, the Israel Corporation 1.1%, and Partner Communications 1%.
One of the hottest shares around these days is Lipman Electronics Engineering, which soared 8.5% this week on abnormally high turnovers, mostly in anticipation of the share’s entry into the Tel Aviv 25 index. The trend held today, but in lower gear, with a 0.2% rise on a NIS 7.5 million turnover, compared with a NIS 10 million daily average in recent days.
IDB group shares did well today, with Discount Investment Corporation up 1.6%, IDB Development 0.1%, and IDB Holdings 1.7%.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on June 3, 2004