MW Israel's stock market, which rose at the outset of war with Iran, has lost those gains
By Steve Goldstein
The early enthusiasm for the war against Iran has evaporated in Tel Aviv.
The Israeli stock market, which initially rallied at the onset on the country's joint military campaign with the U.S. against Iran, is now trading at prewar levels.
The TA-125 index slumped 3.5% on Friday to trade below the level where it stood prior to the outset of war.
Israel's stock-market index is now below where it stood as the Iran war started.
The iShares MSCI Israel ETF EIS fell 3.5% in early New York trade and is now down 9% from its early March peak.
Israel is feeling the direct impact of Iranian missiles with foreign tourism slowing to a trickle. While the country gets its oil from a pipeline via Azerbaijan, the tech-oriented economy is still exposed to surging prices.
Analysts are cutting expectations for Israel's economy, which was forecast to grow 4.4% ahead of the war. JPMorgan economist Anatoliy Shal expects Israel's central bank to reduce its GDP forecast to 4% or lower when it meets on Monday. His own forecast is for 4.1% growth, down 0.7 percentage point from a prewar projection.
The decline in credit-card spending so far has been comparable to that during last year's 12-day against Iran, according to comments made by Bank of Israel governor Amir Yaron.
He warned the country would have to raise taxes to pay for increased defense spending.
-Steve Goldstein
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March 27, 2026 10:50 ET (14:50 GMT)
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