Main TASE indices are up but most stocks are down

The Tel Aviv 35 Index has risen 16.3% and the Tel Aviv 125 Index 10.9% year to date, yet 70 of the 125 stocks in the latter show negative returns. Analysts disagree on whether this reflects healthy market selectivity or a hidden bear market masked by a handful of heavyweight stocks.

The Tel Aviv 35 Index has risen 16.3% and the Tel Aviv 125 Index 10.9% year to date, but 70 of the 125 stocks in the latter show negative returns. The declines are concentrated in smaller stocks, particularly those in the Tel Aviv 90 Index, which fell 6.5% year to date and 11% in the past month. Analyst Lior Vider warns of a 'hidden bear market,' arguing that the strength of leading indices rests on a handful of heavyweight stocks—Tower Semiconductor, Harel, Phoenix Finance, and Elbit Systems—which obscure broad market weakness. He notes that 340 stocks have fallen year to date versus 190 that rose, and 55 stocks are at 52-week lows. Tel Aviv Stock Exchange EVP Yaniv Pagot counters that the divergence reflects healthy market selectivity, with macro conditions favoring banks, insurance, and large tech while hurting real estate and construction. He points to the TA-125 Equal Weight Index, which fell 1.8%, as evidence that passive money flows to big companies. The phenomenon mirrors a narrow rally on Wall Street led by AI and tech giants.

Main TASE indices are up but most stocks are down