The Stock Market in August: The Leading Index, Stocks That Soared, and Those That Crashed

With the closing of trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange this evening (Monday), the month of August has ended, with the main indices showing stagnation throughout the month. The insurance index stood out, which showed declines at the beginning of the month, but later, mainly due to the excellent reports of insurance companies, the index jumped and finished with a monthly increase of 12%.

Leading Index Returns:

TA-35 recorded an increase of 1.15%

TA-125 strengthened by 0.9%

TA-90 weakened by about 0.2%

TA-Banks jumped by 6.9%

TA-Real Estate fell by about 1%

TA-Insurance jumped 12.2%

TA-Finance rose by 8.1%

TA-Technology fell 5.6%

TA-Global Tech shed 4.4%

TA-Cleantech plummeted by about 9%

Stocks with notable positive returns this month:

Insurance company Libra rose by more than 30% after publishing an exceptionally strong quarterly report, with significant growth in revenues, profits, and premiums. Over the past year, the company's stock recorded a sharp increase of 68%.

Robotics manufacturer Maytronics rose by more than 40% following reports of contacts for its acquisition by the FIMI fund. Despite the rise, the company has been in a significant decline over the past year of almost 45%.

Shares of the company Sade Real Estate, which operates in the initiation, acquisition, and development of real estate assets in Houston, Texas, USA, jumped this month by about 35% after completing a significant capital raise. Over the past year, the stock recorded an increase of 13%.

Multi Retail company, which holds, among others, ACE and AutoDepot, jumped by 33% following the announcement that the controlling shareholders sold their holdings to Ronen Ganon. Despite the rise, over the past year the company recorded a decline of 25%.

Stocks with notable negative returns this month:

Payment solutions provider Nayax (known for credit card payments in vending machines) was cut by about 25% after a disappointing report. The stock price reached an even greater low during the month, but the company's announcement of the acquisition of IPS — a provider of smart parking technologies with digital payment — helped the stock recover.

Nayax's vision is to offer local authorities and private operators a single platform that combines parking, payment processing, and electric vehicle charging. Over the past year, the stock recorded a decline of 8%.

Chip manufacturer QualiTau lost 35% of its value this month after lukewarm reports. The decline comes after a long rally of over 1,000% in five years. Over the past year, the company fell by about 16%.

Electra Real Estate, which specializes in real estate leasing in the USA, continues the negative trend and recorded a decline of 27%, and almost 50% over the past year. Several factors are responsible for the decline, among others: selling a property at a loss, a failed capital raise, and general weakness in the American housing market.

Urban renewal company Hachshara Itchadshut recorded a decline of 28%. At the beginning of the month, without any special news in the background, a sharp decline of almost 40% began in the stock, in what looked like an aggressive realization by some investor. Later the stock recovered, but as mentioned, it is still trading with a decline. Over the past year, the stock rose by about 14%.