Bank of Israel Buys Dollars as Shekel Jumps to 18-Month High
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The Bank of Israel bought U.S. dollars for the first time in almost two years in a bid to weaken the shekel after the currency rallied to an almost 18-month high, traders said. The shekel pared gains.
The central bank bought at least $100 million, said Moshe Nir, a trader at Mercantile Discount Bank Ltd. in Tel Aviv. Rony Gitlin, head of spot trading at Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd. in Tel Aviv, confirmed the purchases while declining to give an estimate on the amount. The Bank of Israel, which last intervened in July 2011, confirmed in a statement on its website that it had “acted” in the currency market today.