Stock market prices in Tel Aviv sank on Tuesday to lows that have not been seen for up to three years, and some indices reach all-time bottoms. However, a dramatic rise in
The crash in the market, which has seen prices fall through the basement floor, has cost Israelis billions of dollars, and not just on paper. The public withdrew nearly one billion dollars from large equity and bond funds, according to Globes. More than $2 billion has been withdrawn since the beginning of the year.
Mutual fund assets in September were down by nearly $2 billion, while the value of shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) plummeted by billions more the past several months.
The unprecedented downhill snowball follows the financial crisis that began in the
However, prices continued to sink, leaving the bargain basement buyers underground while those on the sidelines waited for a twice and thrice-in-a lifetime opportunity.
Before Wednesday morning's upward trend in Tel Aviv, the indices for real estate and technology stocks had hit all-time lows.
On the plus side, the shekel-dollar rate continued to drop and now is trading around the 3.74 level after reaching 3.90 last week.
The cheaper dollar and the continuing drop in crude oil prices may allow next month's price at the pump to fall by nearly 15 percent. However, the expected cut in the government-regulated price ceiling of benzene gasoline still does not reflect a sharper reduction in the cost of crude oil.