Shares tumble on Tel Aviv stock exchange amid Iran attack fears

Shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange tumble and the shekel slides as Israel is on high alert for a possible attack from Iran following the assassinations of Hezbollah military chief Fuad Shukr in Beirut by an Israeli strike and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s benchmark TA-125 index drops 2.3% and the TA-35 index of blue-chip companies is down 2.2%. The TA-90 index, which tracks the shares with the highest capitalization not included in the TA-35 index, falls almost 2.2%, and the TA-Dual Listing index dives 3.3%.

This happens as Asian shares open the week in the red with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index down more than 6%, over fears of a slowdown in the US economy.

The shekel falls for a sixth day and is at 3.83 per dollar, trading around its weakest level since November.