Maof advances 0.5%; US stocks rise

TEL AVIV The TA-25 Index rose 0.5 percent to 1,128.55, at the 4:30 p.m. close in Tel Aviv on Thursday. Investors traded about NIS 955 million of shares and convertible securities.

Elbit Imaging retreated 1.5%, following a 20% jump on Wednesday after an affiliate of the investor in real estate and medical companies sold shopping centers in the US for $1.43 billion.

Flowsense Medical, the maker of an automated urine-monitor system, surged 13% after saying it had completed the first stage of testing of a system in the US. WALL STREET Stocks rose as a drop in borrowing costs at debt auctions in Europe overshadowed disappointing data on American jobless claims and retail sales.

The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 1,294.84 at 2:56 p.m. in New York. The benchmark gauge gained 1.2% over the previous three days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 13.85 points, or 0.1%, to 12,463.30. EUROPE Stocks declined after reports that showed US retail sales and initial jobless claims had missed economists’ forecasts outweighed lower borrowing costs at Spanish and Italian debt auctions.

National benchmark indexes rose in 13 of 18 Western Europe markets. The UK’S FTSE 100 Index fell 0.2% to 5,662.42. France’s CAC 40 Index slipped 0.2%, while Germany’s DAX Index climbed 0.4%. ASIA Most stocks fell as weaker Japan trade data added to evidence of a global slowdown, damping speculation slower inflation in China may result in looser monetary policy.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 0.7% to 8,385.59. China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped less than 0.1%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.3%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.2%, South Korea’s Kospi Index advanced 1% and the BSE India Sensitive Index dropped 0.9%. (Bloomberg)