Israeli benchmark index continues in red

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) — Israel's benchmark index, the TA-35, dropped by around 2% on Friday to 1,669 points from 1,700 on Thursday.

Israel's economy has been facing stronger headwinds since Oct. 7, when Gaza-based Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise attack.

Over the past two weeks, the index lost 8.8%, falling from 1,830 level.

The Israeli shekel, which traded for about 3.84 to the US dollar on Oct. 6, saw an exchange rate of 4.06 on Friday, a drop of 5.7%.

The Bank of Israel had to intervene in markets last week to inject billions of US dollars and rebalance the shekel's value.

The country's CDS risk premium for 10-year bonds was at the 75 level last month and 85 at the beginning of the conflict. But over the last 13 days, it reached 165, increasing 120%.