Five things to know ahead of the stock market opening
Trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange is mixed: the TA-35 rises about 0.1% and the TA-90 falls about 0.1%. The insurance sector recovers about 0.7% after leading yesterday's declines. The dollar climbs 0.14% to trade at 3.1999 shekels, near the 3.2 shekel threshold, against the backdrop of a surge in US bond yields above 5%.
Trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange is mixed: the TA-35 rises about 0.1% and the TA-90 falls about 0.1%, after a positive opening where the TA-35 climbed 0.3%. The focus is on the insurance sector, which is correcting upward by about 0.7% after leading yesterday's declines. Following it, the oil and gas sector and the financial index are notable for gains, adding about 0.4% each. On the negative side, biomed leads with a decline of about 0.5%, followed by food (-0.3%) and communications (-0.2%). In the forex market, the dollar continues to strengthen against the shekel: as of 10:02 it is up 0.14% and trading at 3.1999 shekels, after visiting a daily high of 3.2046 shekels this morning. Yesterday the dollar strengthened by almost 1% against the shekel. This is set against the backdrop of a surge in US government bond yields, with the 10-year yield crossing the 5% threshold again, and the drama at the top of Nvidia following the dismissal of CEO Jensen Huang. Yesterday Wall Street indices closed lower: the Nasdaq fell 0.5%, the S&P 500 fell 0.4%, and the Dow Jones fell 0.3%. Nvidia stock opened down 14% and closed down about 4%. Dual-listed stocks provide slight support to the TA-35 index with a positive arbitrage gap of about 0.2%. In Asia, a negative trend is seen: the Hang Seng plunges 1.5%, Shanghai falls 0.6%, and the Kospi sheds 1%, while the Nikkei rises 0.5%. The yen crossed the 160 yen per dollar threshold yesterday, and Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Kataoka warned against "sharp and one-sided movements in the currency market."