The main indices on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange fell sharply today. The Tel Aviv 35 Index fell 3.13%, to 3,603.38 points; the Tel Aviv 125 Index fell 3.05%, to 3,626.88 points; and the BlueTech Global Index fell 1.34%, to 618.34 points. The TelBond 60 corporate bond index fell 0.12%, to 414.29 points. Turnover totaled NIS 4.11billion in equities and NIS 2.52 billion in bonds.
On the foreign exchange market, the representative shekel-US dollar exchange rate was set 0.16% lower, at NIS 3.1860/$, and the representative shekel euro rate was set 0.24% lower, at NIS 3.7573/€.
Bank Leumi led trading today, and fell 3.48%. Bank Hapoalim fell 4.03%; Phoenix Finance fell 6.29%; Teva fell 0.79%; and Elbit Systems fell 2.69%.
Notable advancers today were Israel Corporation, up 5.03%, and ICL, up 4.75%. Energix fell 8.43%, and the other sharpest decliners were all insurance companies: Harel fell 7.59%; Menora Mivtachim fell 7.48%; Migdal Insurance fell 7.27%, and IDI Insurance fell 6.79%. The Tel Aviv Insurance Index fell by 6.89%, although it still closed 17% up for the week and 156% up for the year to date.
The banks were also notably weak. The Tel Aviv Banks5 Index fell by 4.23%. Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich issued a new warning to the banks today, saying that he would double his proposed 15% tax on their super profits if they cancelled benefits to consumers.
Mizrahi Tefahot chief markets economist Ronen Menachem says that it Is not possible to point to any particular figure or event to explain the sharp falls across the board in stocks in Tel Aviv. "All the same, these are natural falls, given the substantial rises that preceded them," he said. On the steep falls in insurance stocks, Menachem said that they were a result of "a natural desire on the part of investors to take profits on their exposure to sectors that have recorded the sharpest rises in the past year.
"At the beginning of 2026, the Bank of Israel will publish its next interest rate decision and its new economic forecast. The market attributes great importance to this, and so it may be that coming sessions will be characterized by higher than usual volatility in advance of the event. At any rate, in our view one should not conclude from today’s falls that the market is changing direction."
Idan Azoulay. chief investment officer at Sigma Clarity, also sees today’s fall as logical and natural profit taking. "The data and the estimates on the basis of which the stock market rose this year did not change today," he adds. "Despite today’s unusual falls, this month the Israeli stock market yielded higher returns than most markets around the world. The local market is not cheap the way it was at the beginning of the year, but anyone who believes that the Israeli economy will continue to demonstrate strength (as we do) will actually find in these falls a buying opportunity."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 25, 2025.
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