Market Report / Tel Aviv up slightly for the week

Stocks ended the trading week down yesterday, falling in line with Wall Street's losses on Wednesday.

The TA-25 was down 0.2% to end the day at 1,043 points, while the TA-100 also lost 0.2% to close at 974 points. For the week, the main indexes were both up about 0.2%. Turnover yesterday was NIS 1.5 billion.

The dollar fell below the NIS 3.7 level to a representative rate of NIS 3.698, down 0.16%, while the euro gained against the shekel over 0.3% to a representative rate of NIS 5.546. The dollar hit 14-month lows against the euro on Wednesday and Thursday, at over $1.50 per euro, and the shekel simply followed world trends yesterday. In later trading, the dollar rose slightly in world markets.

Asian stock markets dropped Thursday as weakness on Wall Street and confirmation of China's economic recovery led investors to take profits from a recent rally. Investors in Asia were spooked by U.S. markets falling late Wednesday, after a leading analyst downgraded American bank Wells Fargo - touching off more fears about the financial sector. That combined with growing anxiety about the pace of the market's rise to drag the Dow Jones Industrial Average below the 10,000 level. Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average closed lower by 0.6%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.4%.

European stock markets partly recovered early losses Thursday, but were still down for the day. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed down 1%, while Germany's DAX fell 1.2%. The CAC-40 in France closed 1.4% lower. A solid morning on Wall Street helped limit losses.

Later in the day, U.S. stocks rose after two days of losses. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 132 points, 1.3%, and logged the biggest gains of major indexes as a number of companies that make up the indicator reported earnings that surpassed expectations. The Nasdaq lagged, but rose 0.7%, after a disappointing forecast from online retailer eBay.

The Real Estate-15 fell 0.4% yesterday as Africa Israel lost 2.4%, leading the index down. For the week Africa plunged 21%. The Banks-5 was off 2.7% yesterday. Bank Leumi was down 0.7% yesterday and dropped 4.5% for the week.

The Bank of Israel is expected to make its monthly interest rate announcement on Monday. At investment bank Barclays Capital, analysts expect governor Stanley Fischer to raise rates as the various reasons for the exceptionally low interest rates - presently 0.75% - are disappearing, even though the September CPI was negative. The analysts say the Israeli economy is recovering from the economic crisis. Bank Leumi is also optimistic and raised its growth forecasts for the Israeli economy. (See story on Page A8)

The Israel Corporation gained 1.5% yesterday and climbed 11% for the week after reaching an agreement with bondholders of its Zim shipping subsidiary earlier this week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.