The Israeli shekel weakened on Tuesday as investors sought safe-haven currencies, particularly against the US dollar, as the Russian-Ukraine crisis escalated into a full-blown conflict, financial daily Globes reported.
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"The shekel is weakening against the dollar after reports that Russian troops have moved into eastern Ukraine," the report stated.
"In afternoon interbank trading, the shekel exchange rate is up 0.36% against the dollar at NIS 3.222/$ and up 0.32% against the euro at NIS 3.654/€," it added.
On Monday, the Bank of Israel set the representative shekel-dollar rate up 0.532% from Friday, at NIS 3.210/$, and the representative shekel-euro rate was set 0.317% higher at NIS 3.643/€.
The trend marks a departure from last week, when the shekel strengthened against the dollar and euro after initial Russian claims that it would pull back troops from the Ukrainian borders, raising false hopes of a de-escalation.
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Also on Monday, the Bank of Israel said it would "begin a gradual process of raising interest rates in the coming weeks," said the report.
"The next interest rate announcement is on April 11, and analysts expect the rate will rise then from 0.1% to 0.25%, assuming that the US Federal Reserve raises interest rates next month," it announced.
JNS.org contributed to this report.
