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Last update - 22:22 05/10/2008
Gov't seeks to quell financial fears as Tel Aviv stocks plummet
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, and Rotem Sella
Tags: Financial Crisis, U.S., TASE 

Israel's leadership on Sunday sought to quell fears that the lobal financial crisis would wreak havoc on the country's economy, as Tel Aviv stocks plunged in the day's trading.

By mid-afternoon, the Tel Aviv 25 index fell 5 percent to 804 points, and the Tel Aviv 100 index slid 5.4 percent to 719.

The TA-Real Estate index led the downward spiral, loosing 10 percent. Since the beginning of the year, the latter index has lost over two thirds of its value. The Tel-Bond 40 index also suffered a heavy loss, falling 7 percent.
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After the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange suffered its initial losses Sunday, Finance Minister Roni Bar-On said the country's financial leadership was not panicking in the face of the global crisis.

"We are cooperating with the Bank of Israel and the banks, and at this time there is no sign of real fear. We mustn't deviate from our budgetary targets," Bar-On said during a meeting of Kadima ministers. His comments came as the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange opened sharply lower Sunday.

Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also aimed to calm nerves about the financial crisis. He said at the meeting: "The situation in global markets was on the agenda last week and we have been continuously discussing it with the finance minister and the governor of the Bank of Israel in order to monitor the situation. This has been done with utmost responsibility and the necessary awareness."

The losses at the TASE Sunday came despite the United States' Congress approval of a historic $700 billion bailout for the financial industry on Friday.

Shortly after the bailout plan cleared Congress, U.S. President George W. Bush said: "We have acted boldly to help prevent the crisis on Wall Street from becoming a crisis in communities across our country," although he conceded, "our economy continues to face serious challenges."



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      1.   Wait until tomorrow to see the real thing going down... 11:25  |  S 05/10/08
      2.   rich ... 36 11:52  |  B.Saleem 05/10/08
      3.   Any finance minister who isn`t privately panicking is an idiot 12:15  |  Clickfool 05/10/08
      4.   Germany`s second largest mortgage lender, Hypo Real Estate... 14:42  |  Maureen Ann 05/10/08
      5.   Just because the states has $700 billion 14:44  |  Chris Linthwaite 05/10/08
      6.   Dow Jones target 7200 15:27  |  Peter 05/10/08
      7.   Bad idea 17:22  |  Baz Mann 05/10/08
      8.   Investors Keeping Up 17:34  |  Mark of Lewiston 05/10/08
      9.   No panicking please -the PM`s accounts are fully loaded 18:20  |  Sal 05/10/08
      10.   Investors leave Israel, as investors smell a new... 18:24  |  Dutch Dirk 05/10/08
      11.   Peter living in fear in Florida 18:35  |  The Equalizer 05/10/08
      12.   Meltdown of World Markets coming 19:34  |  James Rassouk 05/10/08
      13.   You have no idea of economics, do you, Equalizer? # 9 20:33  |  Clickfool 05/10/08
      14.   Investors Heard Bush Radio Speech 21:29  |  Mark of Lewiston 05/10/08
      15.   How come no Knesset member proposes bill to insure bank deposits 23:28  |  Yoo Hoo, AnybodyHome 05/10/08
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