ILS: Shekel Extends Gains, Hamas Confirms Compliance With Hostage Deal
Feb-13 10:49
Spot USD/ILS loses altitude for the second consecutive day, bottoming out at 3.5638. When this is being typed, the rate deals -129 pips at 3.5692 and bears look for a sell-off towards Feb 6/Jan 22 lows of 3.5358/00. On the topside, the focus is on the 50-DMA at 3.6099. The dissipation of immediate concerns about Israel's hostage deal with Hamas aids the shekel, with greenback weakness facilitating the downtick in USD/ILS.
- Hamas said it will release Israeli hostages in accordance with the schedule agreed under the Gaza ceasefire deal, confirming prior speculation. Earlier reports noted that Israel communicated to Hamas that if the group releases three more hostages on Saturday, the existing deal will continue.
- The TA-35 Index has added 0.8% today after failing to test the nearby 50-DMA amid yesterday's sell-off.
- Israel will release January trade data at the top of the hour.
- Inflation data tomorrow will be of note.
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BELGIUM T-BILL AUCTION RESULTS: Short/Long TCs
Jan-14 10:43
| Type | Short TC | Long TC |
| Maturity | May 8, 2025 | Jan 15, 2026 |
| Amount | E2bln | E1.615bln |
| Target | E3.4-3.8bln | Shared |
| Previous | E1.043bln | E2.033bln |
| Avg yield | 2.602% | 2.437% |
| Previous | 2.615% | 2.414% |
| Bid-to-cover | 1.96x | 2.48x |
| Previous | 2.17x | 1.56x |
| Previous date | Jan 07, 2025 | Jan 07, 2025 |
EQUITIES: Large EU Bank Option trade
Jan-14 10:42
- SX7E (17th Jan) 150c vs (21st Feb) 155c, bought the Feb for flat in 36.4k .
Reminder that Friday is Option expiry, and there's 48.2k OI in the Jan strike.
GERMAN AUCTION RESULTS: Strong Bobl auction
Jan-14 10:38
- Strong auction demand with the highest bid-to-cover at a Bobl auction since May. And that is despite the larger auction size of E5bln today (the 2024 auctions were all E4bln).
- The last time there was a larger volume of bids at a Bobl auction was in August 2020.
