Market Report / TA-25 drops 0.9% for the day, but finishes a good week up 3%
By Michael Rochvarger
After starting yesterday down until March TA-25 options expired, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange reversed direction and was up slightly as European markets had a good run. But the day turned sour one more time and the TASE closed lower.
The TA-25 lost 0.9% to close at 1,024 points, but managed a 3% gain for the week. The TA-100 fell 0.4% for the day to close at 950.9 points. Turnover reached NIS 2.3 billion.
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The value of the TA-25 for options expiry was set at 1,022.68. Trading volume at expiry time was about NIS 1 billion - relatively low for an end-of-month options expiry day.
In addition, the TASE once again shut down three hours early at 2:15 p.m. as management fears of employee sanctions led the exchange to take preemptive action and close down trading early for the third consecutive week.
The flow of companies reporting 2007 earnings continues until Monday, the deadline for reporting.
A number of firms are waiting until the last minute, many to keep the news as quiet as possible.
In the meantime, a batch of companies have published good results for 2007, alongside positive forecasts for this year.
The Real Estate-15 rose 0.4%. British-Israel Investments announced strong results for the fourth quarter and all of 2007, and the share rose 0.6%.
Strauss rose 1.7% after press reports said the company was planning to secure an international investor for its coffee business, which grew 33% in the third quarter.
Bank Hapoalim shares fell on the news that York Capital was buying 4% of the bank for NIS 735 million, a 4% discount on the bank's market value. The share dropped 2.3%. Bank Leumi also lost 1.5%.
Ormat Industries surprised markets on Wednesday with a smaller-than-expected dividend announcement, down 69% from the year before, as well as other less than sterling news in its 2007 financial reports. The share fell 6.2% in response.
Israel Chemicals caught investors' interest again before its publishes its financial results Sunday. Deutsche Bank raised its target price for the share to NIS 58 and left its recommendation as Buy. The stock rose 2.2% yesterday.
Deutsche Bank also raised its target price for Delek Automotive from NIS 60 to NIS 67, and the stock responded with a 0.6% gain.
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