The Highlights

Israel

  • The Industrial Production Index in the manufacturing, mining and quarrying branches recorded in the months of November 2016-January 2017 an increase of 9.3%, which derives from a sharp rise in the branches of the mixed technology and elite technology.
  • The labor market in Israel continues to demonstrate strength, when there were no changes in February’s unemployment rate, which remained at 4.3%.
  • The total export of services in the month of January 2017 rose by 2.1% and amounted to 3.3 billion dollars. The sharpest rise was recorded by the export of business services, which are about two thirds of all of the exported services.
  • The combined index regarding the situation of the market rose in the month of February by 0.3%. This rise derives from the increase in the import of the consumer products and the inputs in the month of February and from an increase in the revenue indices of commerce and services in January.
  • According to the data of the Bank of Israel, the foreign currency reserves of Israel amounted at the end of the year 2016 to 98.4 a billion dollars, which is an increase of 8 billion dollars during the year. The main cause for this increase is the purchases in the amount of 6 billion dollars.
  • According to the weekly summation, the Tel-Aviv 125 Index dropped by 0.50%.

The United States

  • The uncertainty regarding the exercise of the fiscal plans of the Trump’s administration increased due to the failure to cancel the Obama Care Law, which may increase the volatility in the markets.
  • The American accommodation market continues to show strength, when the index of selling new houses rose to an annual pace of 592 thousand houses compared to 558 thousand houses in the previous month. In contrast, the index of selling existing houses has shown a moderate slowdown at a rate of 3.7% down to an annual pace of 5.48 million houses compared to 5.69 million houses in the previous month.
  • The Durable Goods Index has shown a moderate slowdown when it rose by 1.7% compared to 2.3% in the previous month. This positive index shows that an increase in the demand will encourage the manufacturers to increase the production, which will increase the economic activity.
  • The Purchasing Managers Indices in the manufacturing sector and in the service sector showed a moderate slowdown down to the levels of 53.4 and 52.9 respectively. However, these indices still stayed at a high level above 50 points, which shows an expectation to a financial expansion.
  • According to the weekly summation the S&P 500 dropped by 1.44%

Europe

  • The president of the European Commission said the Britain will have to pay a fine of 50 billion pounds for leaving the EU.
  • The Purchasing Managers Indices in the manufacturing sector and in the service sector in the Eurozone surprised for the better when they rose above the predictions to the levels of 56.2 and 56.5 respectively. These are the highest levels since the middle of the year 2011.
  • The Consumer Price Index (in annual terms) in Britain rose above the predictions by a rate of 2.3% compared to 1.8%, which was the highest level since the end of the year 2013.
  • The Purchasing Managers Index in the manufacturing sector in Germany continues to point to an expectation of an economic expansion, when it rose much above the predictions in the market to a level of 58.3 compared to 56.8 in the previous month. This is the highest level since the middle of the year 2011.
  • According to the weekly summation, the EuroStoxx 50 Index rose by 0.02%.

Asia and the Emerging Markets

  • Japan’s export index surprised for the better when it rose by 11.3% compared to 1.3% in the previous month. This is the highest rate since the beginning of the year 2015. In addition, the commercial balance, which measures the difference between the import values and export values of commodities and services, rose to a level of 813 billion compared to -1,078 billion in the previous month. This shows that more commodities and services were exported than imported.

Oil

  • The Baker report, which reviews the number of rigs that are active, and is used as an important indicator in the American supply market, continues to show an improvement, when the number of active rigs rose to 652 compared to 631 in the previous week.
  • The inventory of crude oil that checks the change in the number of crude oil barrels that are in the inventory of the commercial American companies, rose to a seasonally adjusted level of 4.95M compared to -0.23M in the previous week.
  • According to the weekly summation, the price of the Brent oil dropped by 1.39% and locked at a level of 51.02$ per barrel.

  Main Recommendations:

  • Allocate 45%-50% of your money to a course of investment that is linked to the Consumer Price Index, and 50%-55% to a course of investment that is in NIS. If you invest in bonds that are linked to the Consumer Price Index, then it is preferable to invest in those bonds with a shorter average duration due to the low expectations of inflation that are embodied in these bonds.
  • An exposure to shares at a level of 90%-95% of the policy.
  • The average duration in the bond portfolio needs to be 3.5-4 years.

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