Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Sees Trading Surge After Shifting to Weekend End
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) has experienced a significant increase in trading volume since shifting its trading week to Monday through Friday, commencing January 5, 2026. This change, aligning TASE with most global exchanges, aimed to boost foreign investor activity. Early results show a dramatic 173% jump in Friday trading volume compared to previous Sundays, with foreign investors accounting for an average of 40.2% of the Friday turnover, a substantial rise from their 12.5% share on Sundays in 2025.
Foreign investors' daily average turnover on Fridays reached 1.59 billion shekels, nearly nine times higher than the 181 million shekels recorded on Sundays in 2025. Overall, the average daily turnover on Fridays is 3.94 billion shekels, a 173% increase from Sundays and 28% higher than the average daily turnover across all trading days in 2025. This surge is largely driven by foreign investors, whose Friday activity is 84% higher than their 2025 daily average, significantly outpacing domestic institutional and corporate investors.
While the shift was expected to take at least three years to show full impact, the rapid adaptation suggests the timing and market's readiness contributed to the swift success. Yaniv Pagot, a senior executive at TASE, expressed surprise at the magnitude and speed of the positive response, attributing it partly to better alignment with European trading hours and enabling investors to react to Thursday's global market developments on Friday.
Despite initial concerns from some institutional investors about working on Fridays and losing the unique advantage of being an active market when others are closed, the change appears to be beneficial. Pagot refuted claims that retail investors have abandoned Friday trading, stating their activity levels remain similar to previous Sundays, though their relative share of the market has decreased due to the overall increase in volume from other investor groups.
TASE's stock has also seen remarkable performance, with a 34% rise since the start of 2026 and substantial gains over the past two years, significantly outperforming the TA-125 index. The exchange's financial results for the second quarter of 2026 reflect this growth, with revenues up 36% and net profit soaring by 81% compared to the same period in 2025.
