Israeli benchmark stock index continues downward trend

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) – Israel's benchmark index TA-35 continued its downward trend on Monday as the new transaction week started, standing at around 1,630-point level.

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

Over the past two weeks, the index lost around 11%, falling from 1,830 level.

The Israeli shekel, which traded around 3.84 per US dollar on Oct. 6, lost value by around 5.7% over the same period.

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 credit default swap risk premium for 10-year bonds was at 75 level last month and 85 at the beginning of the conflict. It, however, reached 165, increasing 120%, over the last 15 days.