JERUSALEM, Jan. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Shares on Israeli Tel Aviv Stock Exchange fell sharply in their heaviest trading day ever on Thursday as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon remained in critical condition after suffering a massive brain haemorrhage.

   The TA-25 index lost 3.90 percent to close at 816.09, recovering slightly after losing as much as 5.9 percent in morning trade. The TA-100 dropped 3.93 percent to close at 822.76.

   Bonds also fell sharply and the shekel depreciated by 1 percent against the U.S. dollar to 4.6163 shekels per dollar.

   Benny Sharvit, head of research at Gaon Investment House, said that Sharon's incapacitation created uncertainty over the March 28 general elections and who would succeed him.

   "The market is moved by uncertainty and realizes that this is the end of Sharon's political career," Sharvit told local newspaper The Jerusalem Post.

   "He was the most likely winner in the coming elections and now all that has changed," said Sharvit.

   The politically sensitive stock and bond market had experienced a big one-day loss in August 2005 when Sharon's political rival Benjamin Netanyahu resigned from the post of finance minister, bringing the TA-25 5.2 percent down from its previous close.

   The worst day, however, came in October 2000 with the outbreak of the Palestinian Intifada (Uprising) when the index lost over 8 percent, causing a temporary closing of the market.  Enditem