Teva, all-clear from Iraq lifted TASE to robust gains

Tel Aviv stocks finished the first session after Yom Kippur with gains of about 1%, boosted by the smiles sweeping the world markets on hopes that war with Iraq may be avoided.

Israeli stocks started the day with gains of 1.5% as investors learned that Iraq agreed to allow UN weapons inspectors to return. The indices were also lifted by the 0.4% rise in consumer prices in August, which was within the range of expectations, and of course the weighty Israeli drugmaker Teva, which keeps coming out with happy news.

The Maof-25 index ended up 1.2% to 375.9 points and the TA-100 index gained a more modest 1% to 363.6 points. The Tel-Tech-15 index slipped by 0.7%. The total volume of trade was a slim NIS 202 million. ...