Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Sees Increased Trading Volume After Friday Shift

A review by the Israel Securities Authority has found that shifting trading days at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) to include Fridays and take Sundays off has significantly boosted trading volumes, improved liquidity, and increased foreign investor activity. Prior to the change, the average daily trading volume on Sundays was NIS 1.3 billion. After the shift, the average volume on Fridays reached NIS 2.6 billion, a 100% increase. Concurrently, average trading volumes from Monday to Thursday rose by 43.3%, from NIS 3 billion to NIS 4.3 billion. Researchers used the first half of 2026 as a comparison period, noting a general increase in TASE activity. After accounting for this overall trend, they estimate that replacing Sunday with Friday trading increased the volume on the swapped day by 57%.

The TASE is entering a shortened trading week, the last of the Hebrew year 5786. Trading will not occur on Friday, the eve of Rosh Hashanah, and the eve of the transition to 5787. Global markets are also observing a shortened week, with New York exchanges closed on Monday for Labor Day. Consequently, local investors in Tel Aviv are expected to be less influenced by global market movements. However, the opening will be affected by arbitrage gaps that emerged after Friday's negative close on Wall Street, following a strong August jobs report that heightened expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate hike. The Dow Jones fell 0.5%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.4%, and the Nasdaq declined 0.3%.

Positive arbitrage gaps were observed in semiconductor stocks, with Tower gaining 6.2%, Camtek up 3%, and Nova rising 2.5%. Conversely, Nice opened with a negative gap of 2%. In the oil and gas sector, moderate increases in global oil prices are noted, with Brent crude up 0.8% and WTI crude up 0.9%.