Trade overview: current reports, trends, indices, stock prices, bonds, foreign exchange and commodities and analyst recommendations
10:36
The increases in Tel Aviv are now led by the Bank Index, which is up by about 1.5%, even thoughThe Competition Authority declared the five largest banks as a new concentration group in the economy. It seems that the current move has already been priced a long time ago, as it took the competition commissioner three years to complete the review.
On the other hand, the oil and gas index is the only one among the sectoral indices that traded down (about 1%) and this is due to the drop in oil prices.
10:13
In the currency market – the shekel has just dropped to below 2.9 shekels after already crossing the 2.9 shekel mark last night and trading at 2.88 shekels to the dollar overnight before weakening. Now strengthening again, a similar goal was last seen in 1993.
In this way, the dollar compensates against the shekel for a drop of about 9% since the beginning of the year alone. The strengthening of the shekel is also reflected against other currencies: for example, the euro exchange rate stands at 3.42 shekels – the lowest level in four years.
When you look back a year, the appreciation trend is even more dramatic and stands at about 20%. The Bank of Israel, on the other hand, does not intervene for the time being. Buying dollars in addition to the huge foreign exchange balances in his possession ($228 billion) is probably not on the agenda, and the interest rate reductions have also stalled. After the bank lowered the interest rate twice in December and January, the move was stopped, when the bank explained it in terms of the geopolitical risks and the resulting uncertainty. According to the latest Bank of Israel forecast, published in March, the capital market does not price an interest rate cut in the coming year, and among economists It is estimated that there will be an interest rate cut of up to 0.5% during that period, a route that is considered relatively moderate.
Globally, the dollar remained under pressure as hopes of an easing of hostilities between the US and Iran supported currencies sensitive to oil prices, while Tokyo renewed its verbal intervention in favor of the yen, leaving speculators cautious.
The dollar index weakened to a level of 98, not far from the low of the last two weeks recorded overnight, and well below last week’s high of 99.1.
The main event in the market is the Japanese yen. It received further support following speculation that Japanese authorities intervened in the foreign exchange market on Wednesday and bought yen, which pushed the dollar as low as 155 yen, the Japanese currency’s strongest level in ten weeks. The dollar later traded around 156.15 yen, with traders remaining alert after a senior Japanese Treasury official said that Japan is not limited in terms of its ability to intervene in the market.
In addition, American Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant is expected to meet next week with Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi. According to a report, the two are expected to discuss, among other things, ways to reduce speculative sales of the yen.
10:00
After an English opening, trading in Tel Aviv opened higher this morning – the Tel Aviv 35 index rose by 0.6%, the Tel Aviv 90 index by 0.1%.
Ormat Dual is soaring in Tel Aviv after rising 8% in late trading on Wall Street. The company reported a profit that was 42% above expectations and revenues that were 17% higher than expected. Revenues grew by 76% compared to the corresponding quarter. It provided a revenue forecast for 2026 that was within the range of analysts’ expectations.
The update of the stock indices of the stock exchange will take place today at the end of the trading day. According to a report by the stock exchange, a total trading turnover of approximately NIS 16 billion is expected during the lock-in phase. Together with the normal trading cycle expected for that day, it can be assumed that this is a cycle that will set a new record. The previous record was recorded in May 2010, when the turnover was about NIS 16.4 billion.
08:15
Five things you should know before the opening of trading on the stock market
1. The stock market
Trading in Tel Aviv will open this morning when the world markets are already pricing in the end of the war between the US and Iran, despite Trump’s warning that Iran will be bombed “at a much higher level” if it refuses a peace agreement and the reports that the Iranians are rejecting some of its clauses. Last night, records were recorded on Wall Street, this morning the stock markets in Asia continue the momentum, Tokyo at a peak.
The drop in oil prices also reduces fears of inflation, weakens the dollar and adds momentum to technology stocks and other risk assets – all of this is good news for financial, real estate and technology stocks in Tel Aviv, but much less so for security and energy stocks.
The dual stocks return to Tel Aviv in arbitrage balance sheet gaps. Stock nice with a negative margin of about 3.5% following yesterday’s sharp decline on Wall Street (about 19%). The company, which has recently benefited from increases due to the possibility of selling its activities in the field of financial risk management, published a quarterly report that disappointed investors. Elbit and Tower with a negative margin of about 0.5%. The shares of Teva, Enlight and the shares of the chips Camtech and Nova will balance with increases of 1%-2%.
Yesterday trading closed with a mixed trend – the Tel Aviv 35 index fell by about 0.4%, the Tel Aviv 90 index rose by about 0.9%. This, after most of the trading hours saw increases in the leading indices, and even sharp increases of about 2%.
Among the industry indices, the one who led the increases was the construction index which rose by about 3.1%. Meanwhile, shares Amram andIsrael Canada jumped up
The bank index also rose by about 1%, even thoughThe Competition Authority declared the five largest banks as a new concentration group in the economy. It seems that the current move has already been priced a long time ago, as it took the competition commissioner three years to complete the review.
On the other hand, those who led the declines were the security index which plunged by about 4.7%, and the oil and gas index which fell by about 3.4%.
It is worth remembering that the semi-annual index update that will take place today is expected to lead to high trading cycles. Migdal Capital Markets estimates that the major stocks – Teva, Leumi and Po’aleim – will benefit from widespread demand; On the other hand, the Tower share is expected to absorb heavy offers.
In Asia this morning, the stock market in Tokyo stands out as the Nikkei index jumps over 5%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumps by 1.46%, the Shanghai and Kospi indices rise by about 0.2% each.
After three days of record breaking, Wall Street contracts are stable for now.
Yesterday on Wall Street, as mentioned, hopes for an agreement between the US and Iran that would end the war that weighed on the markets and the economic outlook contributed to the appetite for risk that is sweeping the markets. The Nasdaq index rose by 1.9% to a tenth record of the year. Dow Jones by 1%, S&P 500 added 1.1% and is even at a record.
Chip stocks once again led the rally in the technology market and are strengthening the increases in the indexes. Philadelphia Chip Index, SOX Already completing a jump of about 65% since the beginning of the year. AMD jumped after the publication of the reports, while Super Micro Computer increased by over 20%, similar to Samsung. Intel with an increase of about 1.7%, followed by Nvidia which added about 4.1%.
stock New York Times Zinka jumped after the company published strong reports for the first quarter, in the last quarter about 310 thousand digital subscribers were added, a decrease compared to an addition of 450 thousand in the previous quarter, and the total number of subscribers reached 13.1 million.
Nvidia announced a new partnership with Corning As part of it, three new optical fiber factories will be established, along with the purchase of rights amounting to approximately 500 million dollars in Corning shares.
Israeli women on Wall Street:
As mentioned, a share nice Plunged by about 19% in trading After the reports are published.
solaredge dropped after concluding the first quarter with a miss on the profit line.
The performance based advertising company tabula Soared after beating forecasts in the first quarter of the year and raising the annual forecast.
2. The bond markets
After a break of two decades, Fox Group is returning to the bond market in Tel Aviv. The company, under the management of Harel Wiesel, completed the institutional phase of issuing bonds (series B), and received huge demand of approximately NIS 2.4 billion. Of these, the company chose to raise NIS 555 million at a low interest rate of 4.39%.
The series, rated AA by Maalot and A3 by Midrog, will be repaid in ten equal payments between 2027 and 2036. The fundraising funds are intended for recycling short-term debt and investments in future growth. The issue was led by Value Base Underwriting.
Another company that raised bonds yesterday is the Amram Avraham Group, which deals in the field of entrepreneurial residential real estate in Israel and in yielding real estate in Israel. It successfully completed the institutional phase of raising debt through a new series of bonds (series D). As part of the institutional phase of the offering, the company received high demands amounting to approximately NIS 574 million, of which it raised an amount of approximately NIS 245.5 million. In light of the high demand, the interest rate was closed in a tender at 5.14% per year (shekels, not indexed) with an interest rate of about 4 years. The bonds are unrated and unsecured.
3. The commodity and currency markets
The currency and commodity market also saw a reaction to reports of progress in negotiations between the US and Iran. The price of a barrel of Brent oil fell to a level of $118, compared to a record of $118 in the war, against the background of the expectation of the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz and the resumption of regular supplies. At the same time, the shekel soared: the dollar weakened by 1.4% to 2.9 shekels, and the euro fell to 3.42 shekels.
As a result of the drop in the dollar, gold and silver soared – gold rose up to 3.6% to a level of over $4,700 per ounce, while silver rose by about 6.8%.
The drop in energy prices is putting downward pressure on bond yields, while at the same time the dollar is trading at pre-war levels, a combination that supports the prices of precious metals, which do not bear interest and are priced in dollars. The rising stock markets in the world also increase the appetite for risk against the backdrop of optimism surrounding the ceasefire between the countries.
With us, in line with the global trend, the shekel keeps getting stronger, and this morning traded around 2.9 shekels to the dollar after already crossing the 2.9 shekel mark last night before weakening a bit. Despite the criticism, the Bank of Israel does not intervene in the markets, and the shekel strengthens as the increases on Wall Street continue.
4. Macro
The US labor market is showing signs of strength. According to data from the ADP research institute, which measures the addition of jobs in the private sector and is based on wage data for over 26 million employees, April saw the sharpest increase since January 2025. According to the data, 109,000 new jobs were added – almost twice as many as in March (61,000). Most of the jobs were added in the health and education sectors.
The report also shows that US employers feel more comfortable hiring new employees now that the uncertainty surrounding Trump’s tariff policy and its impact has largely dissipated.
The government employment report will be released tomorrow, with the expectation being relatively moderate hiring in April – this after March recorded the highest increase since 2024. After the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged last week, outgoing chairman Jerome Powell noted that the labor market has shown “more and more signs of stability”, which is why policy makers are in no rush to reduce interest rates at this stage.
5. Forecast
The cyber security company Check point published reports last week that disappointed investors. Immediately after the report, the stock collapsed by about 20%, a drop that has been waiting since then and now amounts to 16%. The big disappointment came following the reduction of the annual revenue forecast, due to a slowdown in product sales as part of a change it is making in its sales organization.
Bank of America lowered the recommendation for the stock from “buy” to “neutral” and cut the target price from $260 to $120, a premium of only 2% over the price on the Nasdaq. Analyst Tal Liani wrote that the current value provides some support against another downside, but added that there is no clear evidence of accelerating growth, so there is no justification for extensive multiples.
But there are also those who are still optimistic about Check Point. One of them is analyst Joseph Gallo of Jefferies who, after meetings with the company’s executives, decided to maintain a “buy” recommendation at a price of $160 – a 36% premium. Gallo believes that the tone in the meetings was positive and a recovery in product sales is expected.
According to Wall Street Journal data, 41 analysts cover Check Point, of which 25 are neutral and 16 are positive. Their average target price reflects a premium of 20.8%.
