Another upheaval in the foreign exchange market. There is a weakening of the shekel against the dollar and the euro. The dollar strengthens by 1.5% against the shekel and reaches a level of NIS 3.61 per currency. In addition, the shekel weakens by more than 1.7% against the euro. The exchange rate of the euro currency against the shekel which reaches The rate of NIS 3.95 per coin marks a record of almost two years.
The strengthening of the dollar against the shekel occurs at the same time as a significant weakening of the dollar index in the world since the beginning of March. The index dropped by more than 3 points and currently stands at 101.8 points.
Why do we see this situation in the markets?
Yossi Freiman, CEO of Freeco Investments, in a conversation with Globes, emphasizes the unique situation of Israel and the shekel currency compared to the rest of the world. We see the dollar strengthening against the shekel and everywhere else in the world the dollar is actually weakening, and even more so, the markets in the US are rising and we would expect the shekel to strengthen.” This situation marks the existing sensitivity in the Israeli market, when despite the trend in world markets, the shekel, contrary to expectations, is still weakening. Freiman explains why despite the expectation of the strengthening of the shekel, the market is experiencing another drop in the exchange rate, “It should be understood that since the legal reform there is a lack of trust towards the Israeli market and we see that during Passover, when most of the traders are foreigners, foreign exchange is bought and exposure to the Israeli market significantly decreases.”
When you add the security problem to the negative sentiment in the Israeli market, Freiman explains, it’s no wonder we see the decline in the foreign exchange market. Freiman tells Globes that the next few days will be important and we need to pay attention to them, when Israeli investors return to trading after the holiday and we’ll see how the market reacts When the foreign investors will be joined by the local investors.