Dollar trades at under NIS 3.70, TASE slumps
American currency continues to devalue, trades at NIS 3.6956, TASE sluggish
The US dollar exchange rate continued to drop Tuesday, plummeting 0.79% to NIS 3.6956. This after the currency lost 1.32% of its value Monday, hitting a nine year low of NIS 3.752.
The Euro exchange rates also dropped Tuesday with the currency trading at NIS 5.4902.
“Anticipated sharp interest rate hikes are strengthening the shekel. The Israeli currency has gained some 3% in value on its American counterpart since the beginning of 2008, adding to an overall increase of nearly 10% in 2007 resulting from the global devaluation of the dollar.
"The Bank of Israel raised interest rates by 0.25% in December 2007, bringing overall rates to 4.25%. An additional interest rate hike of close to 0.25% is expected for January as well,” he noted.
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange began its trading day Tuesday with slight gains, but ultimately registered loses on most major indices. The TA-25 dropped by 0.17% to reach 1,168.51 points and the TA-100 also dropped by 0.24% to get to 1,102.21 points.
The Tel-Tech dropped 0.93% to reach 312.47 points.
