Israeli equities closed higher on Wednesday, led by gains in Financials, Insurance and Banking names that propelled the benchmark index upward.
At the close in Tel Aviv, the TA-35 had advanced 1.32%.
Market movers
The session's strongest performers on the TA-35 included Tower Semiconductor Ltd (TASE:TSEM), which climbed 5.68% or 3,360.00 points to finish at 62,500.00. Next Vision Stabilized Systems (TASE:NXSN) added 4.94% or 1,100.00 points to end at 23,350.00, and Enlight Renewable Energy Ltd (TASE:ENLT) rose 3.15% or 670.00 points to close at 21,930.00.
On the downside, Strauss Group (TASE:STRS) fell 2.37% or 270.00 points to 11,120.00 at the close. NICE Ltd (TASE:NICE) declined 2.22% or 700.00 points to finish at 30,860.00, and Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Corp Ltd (TASE:BEZQ) was down 0.98% or 7.50 points to 760.00.
Breadth
Rising issues outnumbered decliners on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, with 267 stocks higher against 204 that fell and 89 that finished unchanged.
Commodities and FX
Commodity markets moved notably during the session. Crude oil for October delivery fell 2.68% or 2.84 to trade at $102.99 a barrel. Brent oil for November delivery dropped 2.23% or 2.43 to $106.32 a barrel. In precious metals, the December gold futures contract ticked up 1.33% or 57.54 to trade at $4,390.34 a troy ounce.
In currency markets, USD/ILS declined 0.33% to 3.03, while EUR/ILS slipped 0.37% to 3.49. The US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.06% at 99.41.
Context and takeaway
Wednesday's session was characterized by sector-led gains that lifted the TA-35, with individual tech and renewable names among the day's best performers and several consumer and communications stocks posting the largest declines. Market breadth showed more advancers than decliners, while commodities and FX moves underlined a mixed external backdrop.
Data presented reflect closing prices and session changes as reported for the Tel Aviv trading day.