TECH - Investor Exit Israel ETFs Following Attacks But Remain Confident In Large-Caps | Benzinga
In recent decades, Israel has become a hotspot for innovation.
Yet the breakout of a war between Israel and Hamas, which controls the Palestinian territory of Gaza, has thrown the country into chaos. Twelve days after Hamas' violent invasion into Israel Oct. 7 and the country’s launch of heavy bombardment in response, thousands of lives have been lost and the conflict has no clear end date in sight.
Israel comfortably earned the nickname of "Startup Nation," with the highest number of unicorns per capita in the world, surpassing other major unicorn hubs like Singapore, Germany and China.
The country has at least 89 unicorns, also known as companies whose valuation exceeds $1 billion, with a population of 9.3 million, according to a report by Accel.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced a high-stakes visit to the country in show of support. The conflict could impact the U.S. economy to a significant degree.
Ninety-three Israeli companies are listed on U.S. stock exchanges and 20 of them have market caps that surpass $1 billion. This typically makes investing in Israel an enticing idea for investors looking to gain easy access to fast growth.
On Tuesday, the shekel reached eight-year lows against the U.S. dollar. Major ETFs following the country's primary industries, which include tech, defense and pharmaceutical, are down. Only a handful of large-cap companies with international exposure are managing to ...