The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) rose today. The Tel Aviv 25 index rose 3.12% to a record 704.04 points, the Tel Aviv 100 rose 2.79% to a record 710.77 points, and the Tel-Tech rose 1.84% to 400.63 points. Turnover was NIS 1.28 billion. The Yeter 30 index rose 3.47% and the Finance 15 index rose 3.3%.
The main reason for the market’s momentum is speculation that a leading ratings agency will soon upgrade Israel’s credit rating. The Ministry of Finance has denied the rumors, nor has any rating agency confirmed them.
If Israel’s credit rating is upgraded, this would be a further sign of economic recovery and improvement in the financial markets, which will probably affect both the bond and foreign currency markets, while also influencing the stock market.
Capital market sources believe that the timing is odd as far as the rating agencies are concerned, if they do decide to upgrade Israel’s credit rating. Some players say it would be logical for the rating agencies to wait to see if the disengagement plan is a success before revising their credit ratings for Israel.
Turnover was highest for the large banks, and trading in exchange traded funds was also heavy. Bank Hapoalim (LSE:BKHD; TASE:POLI) and Bank Leumi (TASE:LUMI) led today’s climb, as they are perceived as the main beneficiaries if the credit agencies actually raise Israel’s credit rating. Bank Hapoalim rose 3% and Bank Leumi 4.7% on turnovers more than double their daily average. The medium-sized banks did not lag far behind: United Mizrahi Bank (TASE:MZRH) rose 3.8%, Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT) 2.7%, and First International Bank of Israel (TASE:FTIN1;FTIN5) 4.8%.
Chemicals shares also benefited from today’s climb. Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: CHIM) rose 4.2%, and MA Industries>(Makhteshim Agan Ltd.) (TASE:MAIN)>MAIN) 3.8%, without any special developments in the industry. Other prominent blue-chip shares included Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq:TEVA; TASE:TEVA), which rose 2.5%, Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL; Pink Sheets:AFIVY) 3.9%, and Israel Corp. (TASE:ILCO) 4.5%.
Insurance shares also soared: Migdal Insurance and Financial Holdings Ltd. (TASE:MGDL) rose 3.1%, and Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd. (TASE: CLIS) 2.6%.
Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (Nasdaq: TSEM; TASE:TSEM) fell 2.5% in reaction to its financial report for the second quarter, but NICE-Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: NICE; TASE:NICE) rose another 4.1% in anticipation of the publication of its financials tomorrow.
Among the Yeter stocks, real estate company Arazim Investments Ltd. (TASE: AZRM) stood out, rising 6.3%, and IDB Holding Corp. Ltd. (TASE:IDBH) subsidiary Bayside Land Corp. Ltd. (Gav Yam) (TASE:BYSD1) rose 3.2%, after publishing its financial report for the second quarter. Among retail stocks, clothing company Castro Model Ltd. (TASE:CAST) rose 4.7%, supermarket Super-Sol Ltd. (TASE:SAE; OTCBB:SSLTF) 4.1%, and food company Strauss-Elite Ltd. (TASE:STEL) 3.5%.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 2, 2005