After a sharp rise yesterday to a 17-month high, the shekel-dollar exchange rate is continuing to move higher today, rising 0.07% to NIS 4.138/$ in inter-bank trading. The shekel-euro exchange rate is 0.04% higher at 5.2252/€.
A record number employees lost their jobs in January. The Ministry of Finance said yesterday that it had allocated NIS 300 million to promote employment, as part of a plan from November to strengthen the labor market. Investment in infrastructure as part of the plan is expected to add 10,000 jobs in a year.
Yesterday, stock exchanges on Wall Street fell sharply, with the S&P 500 Index ending below 800, and Nasdaq falling 4.15% to 1470.66.
The Bank of Israel set the representative shekel-dollar exchange rate 1.497% higher yesterday, at NIS 4.135/$, and set the representative shekel-euro exchange rate 0.487% higher at NIS 5.2231/€.
Easy Forex said that the shekel-dollar rate rose above a resistance point of NIS 4.15/$. The Bank of Israel plan to buy government bonds is also weakening the shekel, as is the -0.5% Consumer Price Index (CPI) reading for January. If the shekel-dollar rate stabilizes above NIS 4.15/$, it can signal a move toward NIS 4.3/$.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 18, 2009
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