Market Report / Chemical shares pull TASE down, TA-25 off 0.6%
By Tal Levy
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange ended its first session down after the Passover holiday, as chemical shares and last Friday's losses on the Nasdaq sent the market lower.
The TA-25 lost 0.6% yesterday to close at 1,093 points, and the TA-100 fell 0.8% to end the day at 1,011 points. Turnover was NIS 1.6 billion.
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Tomorrow, the governor of the Bank of Israel, Stanley Fischer, is expected to announce his decision on May interest rates. Most economists and analysts expect him to leave rates unchanged at 3.25% because the central bank is currently caught between two opposing forces: rising inflation, which requires higher rates, and an economic slowdown, which begs for a cut.
Expectations are for Fischer to choose the middle ground and wait for further developments. On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve will announce its interest-rate decision, and expectations are for a 0.25% reduction there.
Other factors influencing the market yesterday were near-record oil prices on Friday of $118.50 per barrel, as well as reports on rising food prices - both in Israel and around the world.
But the real news for investors in Tel Aviv was Israel Chemicals. The stock brought the market down late in the session after it had been in the green most of the day. It tumbled 4.7% on the day's highest volume, NIS 420 million.
Nevertheless, the share is still an impressive performer so far this year, with a 33% gain. The stock is the only member of the blue-chip TA-25 to show a gain this year. Its parent, The Israel Corporation, lost even more, 5.4% for the day. Makhteshim-Agan fell 3.5%.
El Al dropped 3.4%. The airline will soon face new competition after the Civil Aviation Administration recommended to the Transportation Ministry to allow opening up a number of El Al's regular routes to Israeli competitors Arkia and Israir. The routes include Moscow, London, Rome, Madrid, Paris and Barcelona.
The Banks-5 rose 0.7%, led by Bank Leumi, which was up 2%. Bank Hapoalim continued its downward slide, off another 0.6%.
The Real Estate-15 gained 0.3%. Real estate shares have enjoyed a noticeable recovery over the past month, and the index is now up 13% since the beginning of April. But real estate shares are still down 24.5% since the start of 2008.
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