Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Weekly Review: 28 December - 1 January 2015

TEL AVIV, Israel, January 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) during the last week of 2014 was characterized by a mixed trend in the leading share indices; The largest declines this week of 6.5% were in oil and gas shares

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TA-25  

The TA-25 index decreased 0.2% over the week, and increased 10.2% for the whole of 2014.

TA-100  

The TA-100 index decreased 0.4% over the week, and increased 6.7% for the whole of 2014.

TA-Oil & Gas 

The TA- Oil & Gas index decreased 6.0% over the week, and decreased 20.1% for the whole of 2014.

TA-Biomed  

The TA-Biomed index increased 2.5% over the week and decreased 33.9% for the whole of 2014.

ETN Offerings 

This week a new ETN was issued on a US corporate bond index.

Currently there are 591 ETNs traded on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange, of which 203 ETNs on bond and commodities indices.

Share Offerings 

This week there were two share offerings by biomed companies amounting to US $1 million.

For the whole of 2014 the business sector raised US $2.1 billion through shares on the TASE, after raising a total of US $1.7 billion in 2013.

Corporate Bonds 

This week there were no corporate bond offerings, and for the whole of 2014 the business sector raised US $16.1 billion through bonds, of which US $5.8 billion on the "TACT Institutional" system, after raising US $10.1 billion in 2013.

Government Bonds 

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) did not make any public bond offering listed on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange this week. For the whole of 2014 the MoF raised US $14.5 billion in bond offerings on the TASE, after raising US $18.2 billion in 2013.

BOI Interest Rate 

The Bank of Israel left the interest rate unchanged at 0.25% for January 2015.

Economic Growth Forecast - Bank of Israel 

The Bank of Israel released its macroeconomic forecast for the Israeli economy, which indicates that GDP is expected to grow by 2.5% in 2014 and 3.2% in 2015. The rate of inflation in 2015 will amount to 1.1% and interest rates will remain unchanged at 0.25% during 2015.

Growth Rate 

The Central Bureau of Statistics released this week a preliminary estimate for the whole of 2014 according to which GDP increased by 2.6% on an annual basis, after an increase of 3.2% and 3.0% for the years 2013 and 2012, respectively.

Sector Indices

   
               WEEK
                       2014
    TA Bluetech      0.6% -5.2%
    TA Banks         0.7% -5.6%
    TA Real
    Estate-15        0.3% 0.9%

Foreign Exchange

   
               WEEK
                      2014
    Dollar/NIS -0.5% 12.0%
    Euro/NIS   -1.0% -1.2%

Facts & Figures 

The Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange features in December 2014:

• 473 companies listing equities.
• 591 Exchange Traded Notes.
• 31 series of government bonds.
• 75 Series of Institutional bonds.
• 607 series of corporate bonds.
• 1,330 mutual funds.
• Market Cap. (US$ billions)
  • Equities - 201
  • Government bonds - 128
  • Corporate bonds - 80

About  TASE 

Established in September 1935, the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange is Israel's sole securities exchange, offering an increasingly sophisticated range of products to investors, including equity, corporate bonds, treasury bills and notes, index products and derivatives.

International  

In recent years, TASE has enhanced its international presence, signing Memoranda of Understanding with the London Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, NYSE-Euronext the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and Toronto Stock Exchange.

For more information please contact: Idit Yaaron or Orna Goren, TASE, +972(076)8160405/6

Visit the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's Website: http://www.tase.co.il

SOURCE Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE)