ISRAELI STOCK MARKET GETS A SHOT IN THE ARM

After struggling to gain just 4.3 percent in 2020, Israel’s TA-125 stock index already is up 6 percent this month, due to the country’s rapid distribution of COVID vaccines, analysts say.
Israel’s successful vaccination campaign makes it more likely to see an economic rebound sooner than most other countries, luring investors to bet on its stocks.
The country of nine million has vaccinated a quarter of its population in about four weeks.
“Israel is going to be the poster child of how countries get their populations vaccinated and recover,” equity strategist Sean Darby at Jeffries, a financial services firm, said in a comment quoted by the Wall Street Journal. “The market hadn’t appreciated how quickly the vaccine could be rolled out.” 
Investors are putting money into stocks that will ride the wave of an improving economy, such as banking and energy.
Share prices for Israel’s three largest banks have jumped 7 percent this month after plunging 20 percent last year.
Israel’s economy will grow 6.3 percent this year, the country’s central bank has predicted, after contracting 3.7 percent in 2020.
TRENDPOST: Israel has one of the highest COVID vaccination rates in the world. We note this to observe not only what the effect will be as per an economic bounceback, but to observe what side serious effects from the jab, if any, will occur among the population in the coming months.