2024-04-11 05:47:00
The shekel weakened this morning against the main currencies – against the background of the growing tensions between Iran and Israel, and the inflation figures in the US which were higher than expected.
The dollar traded close to NIS 3.75, its highest level since the end of January, after yesterday its representative rate was set at NIS 3.714 per currency. The shekel also weakened against the euro, which traded around NIS 4.025.
The annual rate of consumer price increases in the US was higher than expected in March, for the third month in a row – and may cause the Federal Bank not to start lowering interest rates in the world’s largest economy.
The consumer price index in the US rose 3.5% compared to March 2023 – the sharpest annual increase since September – after a 3.2% increase in the 12 months ending in February. Economists’ forecast was for a more moderate increase of 3.4%.
After the inflation data, the Nasdaq index closed down 0.8%, and the Dow Jones index retreated by 1.1%. The S&P 500 index lost 1%.
Bloomberg’s spot dollar index, which measures the performance of the dollar against a basket of ten leading global currencies, climbed 0.8% yesterday – the sharpest daily increase since January.
In the commodities market, the price of oil continues to climb this morning after closing yesterday with a 1% increase. The markets fear that a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran could cause supply disruptions in the global oil markets.
#backdrop #tensions #Iran #inflation #data #dollar #approaching #NIS