Shekel starts week with more strong gains

Bank Leumi: With the hope that uncertainty will subside, the fundamental forces, such as the current account surplus, continue to support the appreciation of the shekel.

The shekel is strengthening sharply today against the US dollar and against the euro. In afternoon inter-bank trading the shekel is down 0.82% against the dollar at NIS 3.566/$ and is down 0.98% against the euro at NIS 3.767/€.

On Friday, the Bank of Israel set the representative shekel-dollar rate 0.222% lower, at NIS 3.595/$, and the representative shekel-euro rate was set 0.301% higher, at NIS 3.804/€.

Bank Leumi head of markets strategy Kobby Levi said, "The shekel continues to strengthen against the dollar and the euro. Its strengthening began after the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, supported by increased foreign currency sales by the local financial sector, while on the other hand, the volume of purchases appears to be moderating around the current rate. In our assessment, despite the recent improvement in sentiment, the political developments in Syria are increasing uncertainty in the region, and may change sentiment for the worse. In the long term over the coming year, and with the hope that uncertainty will subside, the fundamental forces, such as the current account surplus, continue to support the appreciation of the shekel."

The Israel-Lebanon ceasefire agreement has boosted the shekel, which is at its strongest for over four months against the US dollar and its strongest for 20 months against the euro.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 9, 2024

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