slight increases in Europe; Zim shares jump nearly 40% in pre-trade

11:50

For reports nice To be released on Thursday, Cantor Investment Bank software infrastructure analyst Thomas Blakey sees reports in line with expectations. According to him, expectations are low and the stock has fallen by 42% in the past year, compared to an increase in the S&P 500 index. After the update on the investor day last November, he does not expect any significant updates in the reports and according to the tests he conducted, he estimates that Nice is outpacing its competitors in the market and all its transactions incorporate AI. Blakey estimates that NICE’s risk/opportunity ratio has improved, among other things due to low expectations, low pricing and the expected acceleration in the cloud.

after eight Plus500 reached a peak earlier this month, three company executives announced yesterday (Monday) the sale of shares. The buyer in the transaction is Goldman Sachs Bank. The stock is weakening today in London trading.

The senior executives are CEO David Tsaroya, who sold shares for 20.2 million pounds; CFO Elad Ibn-Chen, who sold shares for 42.1 million pounds; and Marketing Vice President Nir Zatz who sold for 4.9 million pounds. In total, the shares sold make up about 2.1% of the company’s share capital. After the sale is completed, Tzarua and Evan-Chen each own 1.85% of Plus500 shares and Zatz owns about 0.2%, and it was agreed that they will not sell any more shares in the coming year. The report on the sale states that “the shareholders have not sold shares since The IPO was 13 years ago, and they remain committed to the company’s long-term strategy, its growth path and the creation of value for shareholders.”

11:10

European stock markets are trading slightly higher this morning. The DAX index is trading stably, the FTSE adds about 0.4% to its value and the KAC advances by about 0.2%.

In Asia, most stock exchanges are closed today, on the occasion of Rosh Hashanah celebrations in the East. The Tokyo Stock Exchange fell by about 0.5%.

Zim shares are now up about 37% in early trading on Wall Street. Yesterday, it was officially announced that the shipping company Zim Acquired by Hapag-Llyod from Germany and the Israeli Fimi fund, in a deal of 4.2 billion dollars – 35 dollars per share, a 58.5% premium on the share price in New York at the end of last week. While yesterday estimates were that the deal would be closed at a value of 3.7 billion dollars, the final value of the deal will be, as mentioned, about 4.2 billion dollars. According to Fimi’s announcement, the completion of the deal, subject to regulatory approvals and shareholder approval, is expected by the end of 2026.

The fact that Pegg Lloyd, the fifth largest transport company, is seeking to purchase Zim, was revealed in Globes last December. The deal will be financed from Pegg Lloyd’s own sources, alongside external financing of up to 2.5 billion dollars. Samer Haj Yahya, former chairman of Bank Leumi, acts as a representative of Hegem Lloyd and is considered the architect of the deal. Rolf Haben Jansen, CEO of Hegem Lloyd, commented at a press conference on the purchase deal signed with Zim. Havan Jansen estimated that no change in the status of employees is expected in the near term, but looking at the longer term, it is likely that the number of employees in both companies together will be lower than today. According to him, the transaction price “is certainly not low, but we estimate that it is an excellent property and that the premium is justified.”

Investors will closely follow today the negotiations that will take place later today in Geneva between the US and Iran. During the night, President Trump referred to the talks and noted that “the talks with Iran are very important. Iran wants a deal. I hope they will proceed in a reasonable manner. I don’t think Iran wants to face the consequences of not reaching a deal.”

After the sharp declines recorded on Wall Street last Thursday, against the backdrop of the uncertainty created by artificial intelligence in the markets (see the expansion below), the futures contracts are also red today: for now, the Nasdaq index is expected to open with a decrease of about 0.5%, the S&P 500 is expected to decrease by about 0.2% and the Dow Jones is expected to lose about 0.1%.

The New York Stock Exchange will open a shortened trading week today, after being closed yesterday for Presidents’ Day. The AI ​​panic will return to the focus of investors’ attention, after last Thursday, the technology-biased Nasdaq index fell by a sharp rate of 2%. But the wave of sales spread beyond the software sector, which has been under severe pressure recently, to other areas such as real estate, transportation and financial services. Following Thursday’s drop, the Nasdaq ended the week down 2.1%, the S&P 500 lost about 1.4% and the Dow Jones weakened about 1.2%.

Yesterday, the “AI Impact” summit opened in New Delhi, India, where some of the biggest names in the AI arena are expected to gather, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amoday, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. CNBC noted that “a number of major deals, partnerships and announcements from tech companies in the Indian market should be expected to be exposed”, and it is expected that there may be More turmoil in the markets on the background of the event, which will last until this Friday.Meanwhile, billionaire Gautam Adani has announced that he will invest 100 billion dollars in renewable energy-based server farms by 2035.

Emmanuel Kao, an analyst at Barclays, told CNBC late last week that “Investors show no mercy towards any field that appears to be a loser in the AI ​​arena. The list is growing every day, creating a buffer between new and old economic sectors, and between the American stock market and the rest of the world’s markets.”

Strategists of Yardeni Research, the consulting firm of veteran strategist Ed Yardeni, wrote in a message to investors that “We have moved from a state of ‘AI-phoria’ to a state of ‘AI-phobia’. For those who experienced the beginning of the internet age, the feeling is of renewed ‘déjà vu’; both artificial intelligence and the internet are technological disruptions deep enough to almost change the behavior of Everyone.”

In the commodity market: the precious metals are trading lower this morning. Gold is down by over 1% and its price is about $4,920 per ounce, while silver is losing its value by about 4% and is trading around $74.

While yesterday oil prices recorded increases yesterday, ahead of the talks between the US and Iran in Geneva that will take place today, this morning the prices recorded decreases. The price of a barrel of American type oil is about $63 and the price of Brent oil is about $68.

In the crypto market, Bitcoin continues to trade below the $70,000 mark, and its price hovers around $68,000.