The shekel is strengthening sharply today against the dollar and against the euro. In afternoon inter-bank trading the shekel-dollar exchange rate was down 1.02% at NIS 3.5899/$ and down 0.51% against the euro at NIS 3.9004/€. Yesterday, the Bank of Israel set the representative shekel-dollar rate 0.248% lower than Friday's rate, at NIS 3.627/$, and the representative shekel-euro rate was set 0.163% lower at NIS 3.921/€. RELATED ARTICLES Bank of Israel cuts interest rate to 0.1% The shekel is extending its gains today despite the Bank of Israel Monetary Committee's decision yesterday afternoon to cut the interest rate to 0.1% from 0.25% - the first rate cut since 2015. The lowering of the interest rate was expected and the foreign exchange market had presumably already priced in the cut. The main influence at the present on forex trading is the stock markets. When the international markets plunge then Israeli banks and institutional investors need to buy large amounts of foreign currency to cover overseas positions. When the markets rise sharply as they have yesterday and today then there is the opposite effect. Published by Globes, Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 7, 2020 © Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2020
