Israeli stock and bond prices fell and many businesses were closed on Sunday, a day after Hamas gunmen in Gaza killed hundreds of Israelis and kidnapped an unknown number of people, Reuters reported, citing News.ro.

Tel Aviv’s key stock indexes closed down nearly 7 percent, led by a 9 percent drop in bank shares, with turnover of 2.2 billion shekels ($573 million) and government bond prices down nearly 3 percent, which was the initial market reaction to the bloodiest attack on Israel in decades.

While the foreign exchange market is closed on Sunday, the shekel is already at its lowest level in a year due to the government’s highly contested judicial overhaul plan.

“This round of violence is expected to be longer and more severe than previous ones, with clearly more adverse effects on the economy and budget. The shekel is likely to depreciate strongly tomorrow and we see a high probability that the Bank of Israel will sell the currency at some point,” said Jonathan Katz, chief economist at Leader Capital Markets.

Militants from the Palestinian group Hamas rampaged through Israeli cities on Saturday, killing at least 400 Israelis before taking dozens hostage and returning to Gaza.

Israel retaliated with airstrikes on Hamas targets in Gaza.

Militants in Gaza have fired thousands of rockets at Israel, some reaching as far as Tel Aviv, forcing airlines to suspend flights to and from Israel.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he ordered department heads in the ministry to quickly provide the necessary budgets to help with the war.

The Bank of Israel said it was too early to estimate the economic toll from the conflict, but pointed to the 50-day war with Hamas militants in Gaza in 2014, which cost 3.5 billion shekels, or 0.3 percent of gross domestic product. .

The Central Bank predicted economic growth of 3% in 2023 and 2024.

Violation of air traffic

Delta Air Lines said flights to/from Israel to New York and Atlanta were canceled until Monday, while United Airlines said “future operations at TLV (airport) will be suspended until conditions allow them to resume.”

Air India has announced that flights to and from Tel Aviv will be suspended until October 14. United Airlines’ smaller rival, Arkia, said it was operating rescue flights from Athens to bring back Israelis who were on vacation.

Israir said it was operating rescue flights from Larnaca, Cyprus, but warned it may operate a reduced schedule in the coming days as foreign crews on some leased planes were asked to leave Israel.

Nvidia, the world’s largest maker of chips used in both artificial intelligence and computer graphics, said it had canceled an artificial intelligence summit scheduled for next week in Tel Aviv where CEO Jensen Huang was scheduled to speak.

Schools were closed, many companies gave workers the day off, and most shops, except supermarkets and pharmacies, were closed.

The Israel Manufacturers Association said factories were still operating to ease concerns about shortages of food and other staples.

“All companies will continue to operate as much as possible despite the difficult emergency conditions, missile attacks and resulting labor shortages. Thanks to Israel’s industrial independence…even in times of emergency, the people of Israel will not lack anything,” said association president Ron Tomer.

Intel, Israel’s largest employer and exporter, declined to say whether chip production was affected.

“We are closely monitoring the situation in Israel and are taking steps to protect and support our employees,” the spokesman said.

Tower Semiconductor said it is business as usual.

• Events on the war launched by Hamas in Israel – LIVETEXT on HotNews.ro