Recession Fears Restrain Shekel

The shekel weakened against the dollar amid fears of global recession on Thursday, Globes reported.

The shekel-dollar exchange rate stood at 3.5320/$ as of late Thursday. On Wednesday the rate was 3.489/$. The strong shekel was expected to continue driving hard on the dollar at the start of the week, but changing market factors caused a shift.

Globes described the situation: “The shekel is losing ground today as recession fears grip global markets and investors rush for the save haven of the dollar. Yesterday, the NYSE and Nasdaq fell 3 percent as U.S. bond yields in some sectors fell below zero for the first time since 2008. Earlier in the day, Germany had reported that its economy contracted in the second quarter of 2019.”

The government’s Central Bureau of Statistics was scheduled to publish the July Consumer Price Index (CPI) later in the day. The CPI is expected to be unchanged, thus maintaining the annual inflation rate below the 1-3 percent annual target range.