Record Close in Tel Aviv

The Tel Aviv 100 index, which tracks the largest companies on Israel's exchange, crossed the much-anticipated 1000 level for the first time Wednesday, completing a 5.5% climb since the beginning of the year.

Share increases across the board were fueled by a host of bullish corporate and economic news.

Earlier this week, Standard and Poor's raised its outlook on Israel's debt from negative to stable based on "improved economic and fiscal resilience to external shocks." That followed similar upbeat outlooks and credit upgrades by both Fitch and Moody's. ...