Israeli Stocks Rise Despite Triple Terror Attacks

TEL AVIV – A spate of terror attacks on Tuesday did not slow down Israeli stocks, which hit a new high when the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange closed on Wednesday.

Rising stocks outnumbered declining ones on the Exchange by 195 to 149.

The TA 25 gained 0.41% to hit a new one-month high, Investing.com reported. Gains in the Communication, Real Estate, and Oil and Gas sectors pushed shares higher.

The stocks were apparently unaffected by three terror attacks in different cities that rocked the country on Tuesday.

In Jerusalem, a Palestinian gunman opened fire on border policemen near the Old City. In a separate incident just minutes later, a Palestinian terrorist stabbed a man in a store in Petah Tikva before the victim managed to pull the knife from his own neck and stab the terrorist, killing him.

Hours later, American tourist and U.S. Army veteran Taylor Force was killed when a Palestinian went on a stabbing spree in three different locations in Jaffa and south Tel Aviv. The terrorist wounded 12 others.

All three assailants were killed.

When the wave of Palestinian terror broke out in October, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange was unfazed.

“The Israeli market still hasn’t reacted to the terror attacks. Every day we see declines, but then the market corrects itself,” Idan Azoulay of Epsilon Investment House said at the time.

Jerry Cutiesteanu, head of investments at IBI Israel Brokerage & Investments, noted that 40% of the TA 25 companies, such as Teva Pharmaceuticals, Perrigo, and Nice Systems, aren’t connected to Israel.

In both of the last rounds of conflict with the Gaza-based terrorist entity Hamas, the TASE TA-100 finished higher than before the onset of violence.

According to the investor report, the best performer on Wednesday’s session on the TA 25 was Melisron (TA:MLSR), which rose 2.86% or 370 points to trade at 13300 at the close. Meanwhile, Azrieli Group (TA:AZRG) added 2.30% or 320 points to end at 14240 and Strauss Group (TA:STRS) was up 2.19% or 117 points to 5464 in late trade.