Thursday November 16, 10:41 am Eastern Time

Israel stocks barely move, Magic makes solid debut

TEL AVIV, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Israeli stocks posted little change on Thursday as the new era of dual-listing in both New York in Tel Aviv began.

Magic Software became the first firm to take advantage of new dual-listing laws which allow Israeli companies trading in New York to also list in Israel with virtually no change in reporting procedures.

Shares of Magic, which is also traded on Nasdaq (Nasdaq:MGIC - news), ended 2.6 percent higher at 20.07 shekels in modest turnover.

"It was a warm welcome for Magic," said Tal Goldman of Capital Securities.

Under the new laws, companies will be able to report to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange using a form required of foreign companies by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission and will not have to translate financial reports into Hebrew or convert dollars into shekels.

Blue Square Israel (NYSE:BSI - news) will be the second to dual-list in Tel Aviv trade expected to commence early next week.

A handful of Israeli firms have been dual-listed for years, but those companies listed first in Tel Aviv before heading to Nasdaq or the Big Board.

The TASE believes dual-listing will boost volume and liquidity, which has been absent in recent weeks.

Traders cited weakness in European equity markets as one reason for the declines along with the political instability.

At least 228 people have been killed the past seven weeks in clashes between Palestinians and Israelis. On Thursday, Prime Minister Ehud Barak told Israelis to gear up for a long battle with the Palestinians.

Thursday's turnover was low at 212.6 million shekels compared with 228.7 million shekels on Wednesday.

"No one wants to do anything," Goldman said. "People are just sitting and not doing anything. People that wanted to sell, sold."

Overall, the blue-chip Tel Aviv 25 index closed 0.1 percent lower at 492.56 points, while the broader TA-100 also dipped 0.1 percent to 486.25 points. It was the first drop in three sessions.

The Tel-Tech (^TELTECH - news) technology index slipped 0.8 percent.

Shares of holding company Israel Corp shares rose two percent for the second day to lead blue-chip gainers, while Bezeq Israel Telecom shares rose 1.1 percent.

Osem Investments led decliners with a 1.8 percent drop.

Bank Hapoalim was the most active stock of the session, falling 1.1 percent after the bank paid a dividend.

<0#.TA100>- Tel Aviv 100 index constituents
<0#.TA25>- Tel Aviv 25 index constituents
- Tel Aviv 100 index
- Tel Aviv 25 index
(^TELTECH - news) - Tel Aviv technology index
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($1 equals 4.11 shekels)