The shekel has weakened further in foreign exchange trading this morning. The shekel-dollar rate is up 1.29% in comparison with yesterday’s representative rate, at NIS 3.7721/$, while the shekel-euro rate is up 1.03%, at NIS 4.119/€.
Market players explain the weakening of the shekel against the US dollar by several factors. First of all, the dollar has appreciated against other major currencies in the past few days. The Japanese yen, for example, reached a new low against the US currency yesterday, and is being traded at over 145 to the dollar.
The Russian ruble fell to an eighteen month low, leading the Russian central bank to announce an interest rate hike at the end of an emergency meeting from 8,5% to 12%.
Another explanation is the low trading volumes in August and the demand for dollars. Prico Group CEO Yossi Fraiman said, "The lack of supply on the market has led to extreme volatility, and indicates that there is inelastic and consistent demand. My assessment is that the summer vacations have contribute both to the demand for dollars and, especially, to a decline in the number of sellers and to low supply in the market."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 15, 2023.
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