The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange posted losses and the shekel weakened against the dollar on Monday after Israel and Iran exchanged fire for the first time in two months.

Major indices in Europe and Asia posted losses amid the renewed tensions and a global selloff in AI shares. Oil prices spiked, with the international benchmark Brent crude jumping by $4.60 to $97.69 a barrel, triggering losses of over 2 percent for energy-sensitive airlines like Lufthansa and Air France.

In Israel, the Tel Aviv exchange’s benchmark TA-125 index fell 2.4% in morning trading. The TA-35 index of blue-chip companies was down 2.5%.

The TA-90 index, which tracks the shares with the highest capitalization not included in the TA-35 index, fell 2.2%.

The TA-Finance index dipped 2.8%, and the TA-Insurance index took a 3.6% dive.

Meanwhile, the New Israeli Shekel lost 1.4% in value compared with the US dollar, trimming the shekel’s steep gains against the dollar to 15% over the past 12 months.

Ronen Menahem, chief markets economist for........

© The Times of Israel