Israel’s stock market drops as exit polls show no clear election winner

Israel’s stock market has fallen sharply amid exit polls showing no clear winner in the country’s parliamentary elections. The benchmark Tel Aviv 125 index dropped as much as 3.5 percent in early trading on Wednesday as investors weighed the unclear results of Israel’s first election since the start of its genocidal war on Gaza. Neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition nor the opposition bloc headed by Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot appeared on track to gain a parliamentary majority in the 26th Knesset. With more than 76 percent of votes counted as of 09:30 GMT, Netanyahu’s coalition was on course to win 54 seats, while Eisenkot’s opposition bloc was headed for 47 seats, according to tallies published by Israeli media.