Israeli markets flat after PM Olmert says will quit

JERUSALEM, July 31 (Reuters) - Israeli financial markets were largely unmoved on Thursday as an announcement by embattled Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that he will step down had been widely expected.

In late morning trading, the shekel ILS= was at 3.47 per dollar, steady from Wednesday's official rate of 3.4690. Tel Aviv share indexes were unchanged.

Dogged by corruption scandals, Olmert announced on Wednesday that he would bow out of his centrist Kadima party's Sept. 17 leadership contest and then step down. (For details please double click on [nL1457354])

"Nobody cares," said Joel Kirsch, head of equities trading at Leader Capital Markets in Tel Aviv, echoing the sentiment of several others. "The market is used to having no stability on the political front," he added.

More important to the market are economic data, interest rates and the performances of global financial markets.

"There is some advance in the dollar today (abroad) and that is what we are looking at," said Rafael Ruta, a currency dealer at Israel Discount Bank. "We can't react to every political action since there is something every day."

Olmert will remain in power for a few more months while his successor tries to cobble together a new coalition after Kadima's internal election.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Howard Goller/David Stamp)