A day after the Bank of Israel (BOI) ended its dollar purchasing program, the shekel posted gains against the dollar and euro. The shekel-dollar exchange rate gained 0.47 percent to NIS 3.89/$, and the shekel-euro exchange rate rose 0.02 percent to NIS 5.48/€ in early inter-bank trading Wednesday. Foreign currency market sources quoted by Globes business news said they believed the dollar's performance on world markets will now set the tone in the Israeli market.
The dollar dropped 0.2 percent against the euro to $1.413/€, lost 0.16 percent against the pound to $1.646/₤, and fell 0.5 percent against the yen to ¥95.49/$ on world markets on Wednesday. According to a statement by the financial management company Merril Lynch, Governor of the Bank of Israel Stanley Fischer will raise the interest rate in December, which will cause the shekel to continue to strengthen.