In the middle of the trading day, the real estate, banks and energy indices fell by more than 2% and the leading indices by more than 1.5% • The trend was halted, but the screens remained red
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
Photography:
Gideon Markovich
Trading week on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange opened with strong declines, with the leading indices falling by more than 1.6% after the opening of trading yesterday.
Despite the vaccination campaign that has begun, the possibility of a third closure and further restrictions on businesses has not been dropped.
In this atmosphere there are those who want to realize the profits, which already embody the optimism of the vaccines.
The declines in the oil and gas indices, the banks index and the real estate index, which fell by more than 2.2% in the middle of the trading day, were more pronounced.
Zion Becker, vice president of the finance division at Mercantile Bank, estimates that "as the world overcomes the corona, through the vaccinations that have begun, the stock markets will recover and even be the first to recover."
The US markets have already demonstrated immunity even before the official announcement of a vaccine for Corona, despite the severe damage to businesses and households. This is because many real estate companies continue to grow, such as technology companies, food companies and more. And that alongside optimism in the world, investors are aware of the risk environment.
Currently, this tension is halted within the trading day, as the supply of investors is supported by funds of investors who still believe in the current price level and are trying to enter the market.
Resilience of the economy
The dollar, which has weakened since the beginning of the year against the shekel by more than 6%, is further evidence of the strength of the local economy.
According to Zion Becker, "the strength of the local economy, together with peace agreements, and not just high-tech, have led to a strengthening and will continue to strengthen the shekel in 2021."
Becker estimates that "peace with Saudi Arabia could bring the shekel to a prefix of 2 shekels to the dollar."
He said, "The State of Israel has presented relatively good economic results to the world, with lower GDP damage than most developed economies. The reasons for this are the low weight of the tourism industry in GDP (about 3%), and a strong technology sector , Applications, digital payment solutions, cyber and more. "