The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) dipped today. The Tel Aviv 25 Index fell 0.10% to 1,204.90 points, the Tel Aviv 100 Index fell 0.17% to 1,061.71 points, but the BlueTech 50 Index rose 0.49% to 328.91 points. Turnover was NIS 828.5 million.
The leading TASE indices ended a two-day rally with slight losses on the seventh day of Operation Pillar of Cloud, despite a mixed day on European markets and gains at the opening on Wall Street.
In the bond market, long-term Shahar unlinked shekel government bonds were unchanged and long-term Galil CPI-linked government bonds rose by up to 0.1%. The corporate bond benchmark Tel-Bond 20 Index edged down 0.01%.
In the foreign currency market, the Bank of Israel set the shekel-dollar representative exchange rate at NIS 3.924/$, down 0.41% on yesterday's rate, and set the shekel-euro representative exchange rate at NIS 5.027/€, down 0.06%.
In the stock market, banks led the market down. The Banking Index fell 0.7%, led by a 2.2% drop by Israel Discount Bank (TASE: DSCT), for the biggest loss among Tel Aviv 25 shares. Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) fell 0.8%, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank (TASE:MZTF) fell 0.7%, and Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI) fell 0.1%.
EZchip Semiconductor Ltd. (Nasdaq: EZCH; TASE:EZCH) rose 4.1% for the biggest gain among Tel Aviv 25 shares. Its peers on the index, Mellanox Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:MLNX; TASE:MLNX) and NICE Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: NICE; TASE: NICE) rose 0.1% and 1.9%, respectively. Defense company Elbit Systems Ltd. (Nasdaq: ESLT; TASE: ESLT) rose 2.1%.
Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (TASE: BEZQ) fell 1.3% on the day's biggest turnover of NIS 59 million. However, mobile carriers Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE:CEL; TASE:CEL) and Partner Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR) rose 2% and 0.8%, respectively.
Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: ICL) fell 0.4% and its parent company, Israel Corporation (TASE: ILCO) fell 1.2%.
Food companies Strauss Group Ltd. (TASE:STRS) fell 0.7% ahead of the publication of its financials tomorrow, but Osem Investments Ltd. (TASE: OSEM) rose 0.2%.
Elsewhere in the market, Clal Biotechnology Industries Ltd. (TASE: CBI) rose 10.5%, after announcing that portfolio company MediWound Ltd. had begun treatment of its first treatment as part of a feasibility study of its burn product PolyHeal2.
HOT Telecommunication Systems Ltd. (TASE: HOT) rose 1.9% to NIS 41.06, after raising its controlling shareholder raised his offer to purchase from NIS 41 to NIS 42.
Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd. (TASE: CLIS) rose 1.4%, after publishing good financials for the third quarter.
Shemen Oil and Gas Resources Ltd. (TASE: SMOG) and Zerah Oil And Gas Explorations LP (TASE: ZRAH) rose 4.6% and 8.2%, respectively after announcing that they had received permission to drill the Yam 3 well offshore from Palmachim.
Small-cap Orbit Technologies Ltd. (TASE:ORBI) rose 15.5% on a a NIS 3.5 million Brazilian Air Force contract.
