Israeli stocks hit record after killing of terror group Hamas' leadership

[Israel financial growth on market graph. Israel economic growth on financial graph]
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The Israeli stock market (Tel Aviv Stock Exchange) rose yesterday on news of the killing of the leadership of terror group Hamas in Qatar. The benchmark TA-35 index closed at another fresh record high, climbing 1.8% to 3,133. This follows a similar increase after Israel bombed Iranian nuclear facilities in June.

Israeli stocks may also have been helped by news that Iran has agreed to the restoration of IAEA supervision of its nuclear program to avert the snap-back sanctions that Europeans declared they would implement. Year to date, Israeli stocks, reflected by the most popular iShares MSCI Israel ETF (NYSEARCA:EIS [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/EIS]), are up almost 26%, ranking Israel as the 20th best-performing country ETF out of the 45 tracked by Seeking Alpha's Country ETF dashboard_._ [https://seekingalpha.com/etfs-and-funds/etf-tables/countries#hasComeFromMpArticle=false#source=section%3Amain_content%7Cbutton%3Abody_link%7Cfirst_level_url%3Anews]_ _

Since October 10, 2023, the first trading day after the October 7th massacre, the total return of the iShares MSCI Israel ETF has been 97.83%, compared to 49.43% for S&P 500 ETFs. Investors appear to be pricing in a long-term stable environment in Israel once the current war comes to an end, with optimism for economic growth and a reduction in security threats.

Israel's currency relative to the US dollar (USD:ILS [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/USD:ILS]) has also strengthened significantly. While part of this is due to the general weakening of the dollar index (DXY [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/DXY]), Israel's currency strengthened significantly after Israel bombed Iran's nuclear facilities in June, and has remained strong since then.

Other related Israel ETFs include the ARK Israel Innovative Technology ETF (IZRL [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/IZRL]), the Amplify Bluestar Israel Technology ETF (ITEQ [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ITEQ]), and the VanEck Israel ETF (ISRA [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/ISRA]).

MORE ON ISRAEL

* EIS: Positive Demographics, Strong Services Exports Make This An Interesting Opportunity [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4813410-eis-etf-positive-israeli-demographics-strong-services-exports-interesting-opportunity]
* Iran's Foreign Ministry says nuclear sites 'badly damaged' by U.S. strikes - report [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4462068-irans-foreign-ministry-says-nuclear-sites-badly-damaged-by-us-strikes---report]
* EIS: An Attractive Fund, But Too Risky At New Highs As War Breaks Out [https://seekingalpha.com/article/4795344-eis-attractive-fund-too-risky-at-new-highs]
* Seeking Alpha’s Quant Rating on iShares MSCI Israel ETF [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/EIS/ratings/quant-ratings]