Euro declines to 16-month low before ECB meeting

SHARES

TEL AVIV The TA-25 Index declined the most in almost two weeks on Wednesday, dropping 1 percent to 1,122.93, at the 4:30 p.m. close in Tel Aviv. The measure has gained 3.4% this year after dropping 18% in 2011. Investors traded about NIS 1.16 billion of shares and convertible securities.

Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Corp. declined 2.3% after the Communications Ministry said it was seeking to boost competition in the fixed-line market.

Hot Telecommunication System, the country’s second-biggest fixedline operator, declined 1.8%.

Elbit Imaging, an investor in real estate and medical companies, surged 20% after an affiliate sold shopping centers in the US for $1.43b.

Israel Chemicals declined 2.2% after Environmental Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to appoint a committee to examine the use of natural resources by companies and the level of royalties that are paid to the government. WALL STREET Most stocks rose and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index reached a fivemonth high for a second day as gains in banking and technology shares helped the market recover from an early slump spurred by growing signs Europe may slip into a recession.

The S&P 500 climbed less than 0.1% to 1,292.44 at 4 p.m. in New York as almost three stocks advanced for every two that fell on US exchanges. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.1% to 12,449.3. EUROPE Stocks fell from a one- week high as Fitch Ratings said the European Central Bank must do more to prevent debt crisis from spreading and a report indicated the German economy is shrinking.

National benchmark indexes declined in 13 of the 18 Western Europe markets. The UK’S FTSE 100 slipped 0.5% to 5,670.82. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 each lost 0.2%. ASIA Stocks advanced for a third day as optimism about the US economy tempered concern Europe’s debt crisis is worsening.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.3% to 8,447.88. Australia’s S& P/ ASX 200 Index increased 0.9%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.8%, South Korea’s Kospi Index lost 0.4% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index decreased 0.4%.

CURRENCIES

The shekel fell 0.5% against the dollar and traded at 3.8557 as of 5: 30 p. m. in Tel Aviv, versus 3.8355 on Tuesday.

The euro weakened to a 16-month low versus the dollar as investors speculated the European Central Bank will not announce any new measures at a policy meeting on Thursday to stem the region’s sovereigndebt crisis.

The euro declined 0.6% to $ 1.2703 at 3: 52 p. m. in New York. It touched $ 1.2662, the weakest level since September 10, 2010. ( Bloomberg)