Israel's stock market closed lower on Thursday, weighed down by declines in the Banking, Financials and Real Estate sectors that pushed the benchmark index into negative territory.
At the Tel Aviv close the TA 35 fell 0.82%.
Among the index's top performers, Nova (TASE:NVMI) led gains for the session, advancing 6.62% - a rise of 8,880.00 points - to finish at 143,000.00. Tower Semiconductor Ltd (TASE:TSEM) added 6.33%, up 4,070.00 points to end the day at 68,350.00. Camtek Ltd (TASE:CAMT) also recorded a strong showing, increasing 5.57% or 2,300.00 points to close at 43,600.00.
On the downside, Next Vision Stabilized Systems (TASE:NXSN) was the weakest of the TA 35 constituents, falling 4.85% or 1,250.00 points to 24,500.00 at the close. ICL Israel Chemicals Ltd (TASE:ICL) slipped 4.30%, a decline of 66.00 points, to settle at 1,468.00. Delek Group (TASE:DLEKG) fell 3.80%, down 3,020.00 points to finish at 76,450.00.
Decliners outnumbered advancers on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange by 308 to 165, while 84 issues ended unchanged, indicating breadth skewed to the downside.
ICL Israel Chemicals recorded a fresh 52-week low during the session, closing down 4.30% or 66.00 at 1,468.00.
Commodities and currency markets registered notable moves alongside equity performance. Crude oil for August delivery fell 1.65% or 1.21 to trade at $72.31 a barrel. Brent oil for September delivery lost 1.35% or 1.05 to $76.97 a barrel. In contrast, the August Gold Futures contract rallied 1.25% or 51.11 to trade at $4,133.51 per troy ounce.
In foreign-exchange trading, the U.S. dollar weakened against the shekel, with USD/ILS down 0.65% to 3.02. The euro also eased versus the shekel, with EUR/ILS down 0.49% to 3.45. The U.S. Dollar Index Futures was little changed, down 0.03% at 100.73.
Thursday's market action reflected mixed stock-level performance amid broader sector pressure. While several technology- and industrial-related names posted double-digit basis-point gains in local terms, the overall market registered more declines than advances and the benchmark index closed lower.
The trading session combined equity weakness in core financial-related sectors with commodity softness in crude benchmarks and an uptick in gold futures prices, while currency moves showed a modestly softer dollar against the shekel and euro pairing outcomes that traded lower versus the shekel.