According to exchange data obtained by Calcalist, average trading volume on Fridays has surged 173% compared with Sundays in 2025, while foreign investors now account for an average 40.2% of turnover, up from just 12.5% on Sundays last year.
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
(Photo: Orel Cohen)
The increase in foreign participation is even more striking in absolute terms. Foreign investors now trade an average 1.59 billion shekels on Fridays, compared with 181 million shekels on Sundays in 2025, nearly 8.8 times as much.
Since Monday, January 5, 2026, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange has operated from Monday through Friday instead of Sunday through Thursday. The change was intended to align Israel more closely with major global markets and increase foreign participation.
Sunday had long been an unusual trading day because most international markets are closed, leaving foreign investors relatively inactive. Before the change, foreign investors held about 18% to 19% of the Israeli equity market, a level the exchange considered low compared with similar-sized economies, where foreign ownership can reach around 25%.
Exchange management initially said the impact of the change should be judged over a medium-term period of at least three years. But either because of the timing or the speed with which the market adapted, the effect has been much faster.
Average total daily turnover on Fridays now stands at 3.94 billion shekels, compared with about 1.44 billion shekels on Sundays in 2025, a 173% increase. Friday turnover is also about 28% higher than the average daily trading volume across all sessions in 2025, which was 3.08 billion shekels.
Foreign investors have increased their activity more sharply than any other group. Their Friday turnover is 84% higher than their average daily activity in 2025. Institutional investors are up just 9% compared with their 2025 daily average, while Israeli corporations are up 12%.
The shift in trading days has also coincided with a broader rise in market activity. Average daily equity turnover rose from 3.08 billion shekels in 2025 to 5.7 billion shekels in the first half of 2026.
Retail investors tell a different story. Their share of total turnover fell from 6.5% on Sundays in 2025 to 6% on Fridays. But in cash terms, their activity has barely changed: average daily retail turnover is 236 million shekels on Fridays, compared with 238 million shekels on Sundays.
In other words, retail investors have not abandoned Friday trading. Rather, foreign investors, institutions and corporations have increased activity so sharply that retail investors now make up a smaller share of a much larger market. Compared with their average daily turnover across 2025, however, retail activity on Fridays is down 22%.
The drawbacks of the shift are clear. Friday is a shorter trading day, and the change requires portfolio managers, traders and other capital-market employees to work on what had traditionally been part of the weekend. Some institutional investors opposed the move before it was implemented.
Ending Sunday trading also means the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange has given up its unusual advantage of operating when most global markets are closed. A major event over the weekend may now only be reflected in Israeli stock prices when trading resumes Monday.
Yaniv Pagot, senior vice president and head of trading
(Photo: Niki Westphal)
Yet Yaniv Pagot, senior vice president and head of trading, derivatives and indices at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, said even supporters of the reform had been surprised by the scale and speed of the response.
“This is beyond any forecast, certainly mine,” Pagot said.
He said one of the main reasons was the economic value of Friday trading, particularly the greater overlap with European market hours and the ability of investors to respond on Friday to developments that took place in global markets on Thursday.
Pagot also rejected predictions that retail investors would stay away because of preparations for the Jewish Sabbath.
“They told me private investors would give up Friday trading to run errands before Shabbat,” he said. “They said retail investors would go eat burekas instead of trading on Friday, but in practice we are seeing activity volumes similar to what we saw before.”
He said institutional investors, including some that initially opposed the change, had also adapted to the new schedule.
Beyond the immediate rise in turnover, Pagot sees the trading-week reform as part of a broader effort to align the Israeli market with global standards.
One of the longstanding arguments against upgrading Israel’s status in international indices was the mismatch in trading days, he said. That obstacle has now been removed.
The main barrier to an upgrade, he added, is Israel’s geopolitical situation.
“It is clear to us that in the current situation it is more complicated to make what you might call a purely economic decision,” Pagot said. “But the infrastructure is ready. When it happens, it will definitely be what you could call a super boost.”
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange has no single controlling shareholder, with ownership spread among institutional and private investors. Artisan Partners holds about 5%, while exchange CEO Ittai Ben-Zeev owns 3.7%.
TASE shares have also been among the strongest-performing stocks in recent years. The stock is up 34% since the beginning of 2026, 60% over the past 12 months and about 304% over two years. Over three years, the return reaches 650%, compared with a 116% rise in the TA-125 index over the same period.
The exchange currently has a market value of 11.8 billion shekels.
Higher trading volumes are also feeding through to its financial results. Second-quarter 2026 revenue rose 36% to 185.4 million shekels from 136.1 million shekels a year earlier.
Operating profit climbed to 97 million shekels from 55.4 million shekels, while net profit reached 78.9 million shekels, up 81% from 43.6 million shekels in the second quarter of 2025.