JERUSALEM, Dec 5 (Reuters) - The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange said on Tuesday that a report by U.S. researchers suggesting there were investors in Israel who may have profited from prior knowledge of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack was inaccurate and its publication irresponsible. "There was nothing unusual in short positions in the stock exchange in the two months before the attack." "The ISA's examinations found, inter-alia, that the average short balances for shares traded on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange declined during the period preceding October 7th," the regulator said in a statement. Their report said "short interest in the MSCI Israel Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) suddenly, and significantly, spiked" on Oct. 2, based on data from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). He also said the short position in Leumi was taken by an unidentified Israeli bank known to the TASE.

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Persons: Robert Jackson Jr, Joshua Mitts, Yaniv Pagot, Pagot, Mitts, Steven Scheer, Mark Potter, Leslie Adler Organizations: Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, U.S, New York University, Columbia University, Hamas, Reuters, Israel Securities Authority, Tel, Aviv Stock Exchange, ISA, Leumi, MSCI Israel, Fund, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Thomson Locations: Israel, Leumi, Israel's, agorot, MSCI