The Israeli stock market has a unique landscape, offering stability and liquidity comparable to other well-established markets, while also providing regional diversification as the only developed market in the Middle East. In recent years, Israel has been a spotlight for technology and innovation, hosting many high-tech companies from industries like cybersecurity, biotechnology and software development. To highlight the significance of this market, S&P Dow Jones Indices offers the .(Click on image to enlarge)
The S&P Israel 100 Index measures the performance of the 100 largest and most liquid companies listed and domiciled in the Israeli stock market. Following a float-adjusted market capitalization weighting, the index is reconstituted and rebalanced quarterly to capture market trends. To reduce overconcentration, single constituent weights are capped at 8% and single GICS sectors are capped at 30% at each rebalancing. For more details about the index construction, the methodology can be found on the .(Click on image to enlarge)
Launched in August 2023, the S&P Israel 100 Index is calculated in U.S. dollars and new Israeli shekels with more than 12 years of daily index level data available. The index includes all 11 GICS sectors, with Financials having the biggest market cap weight at 31.9%, followed by Information Technology (19.0%) and Real Estate (13.0%), as of the end of November 2024 (see Exhibit 2).(Click on image to enlarge)
After a year of volatility and an accompanying modest annual return of 4.8% in 2023, 2024 YTD returns for the S&P Israel 100 Index have seen multiple all-time highs. Having returned 23.4% YTD (as of November 2024), the index has maintained a similarly positive trend as the S&P 500 (up 28.1% YTD) and the S&P World Index (up 22.4% YTD), as seen in Exhibit 3.The main contributors to the YTD performance of the S&P Israel 100 Index vary across sectors, with Financials playing a significant role, along with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries from the Health Care sector, whose growth has been attributed to an increase in revenue from both their generic and branded drugs, as well as semiconductor manufacturers (Tower Semiconductor Ltd and Nova Ltd) from the Information Technology sector, which have been boosted by increased interest around the AI space. The top 10 contributors of the index accounted for 72.3% of its performance (see Exhibit 4).(Click on image to enlarge)
The Tel Aviv 125 Index, also known as the TA-125 Index, is one of the most broadly used benchmarks to reflect the performance of Israeli markets. The S&P Israel 100 Index has provided a differentiated return profile compared to the TA-125 Index, while exhibiting improved performance over the most recent 10-year period.(Click on image to enlarge)
The S&P Israel 100 Index measures Israel’s leading companies across the sector landscape. With a transparent, rules-based methodology, this index offers the possibility of geographical diversification among developed markets, given its focus on a country with unique characteristics. As the only developed market in the Middle East, the index reflects the distinct characteristics of Israel’s dynamic economy.More By This Author:
S&P Israel 100 Index: Reflecting Israel’s Potential
