Foreign investors flock to TASE

The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) can already declare the switch to Friday trading as a success. Summing up almost the first quarter of 2026 and the introduction of Monay to Friday trading (instead of Sunday to Thursday), trading volumes have jumped significantly. TASE data show the average turnover on Fridays in the stock market (excluding ETFs) is about NIS 3.3 billion – a turnover triple the average trading on Sundays in 2025, which was only NIS 1.1 billion.

Foreign investors are responsible for a significant portion of the jump in trading volumes on the TASE. This was the aim of the introduction of Friday trading by TASE CEO Itay Ben Zeev – to align with the routine trading week for the world’s stock exchanges and enhance the attractiveness of the Israeli market in the eyes of foreigners. The data show that the share of foreign investors on Fridays is 44% of daily trading, compared with only 15% in trading on Sundays last year.

TASE research unit head Hadar Romano says, “The scale of foreign trading activity has increased, among other things, following the transition to a Monday-Friday trading format, which contributes to deepening liquidity in the market.”

TASE data also show that foreign investors have deepened their trading activity in Tel Aviv throughout the war, which broke on the last day of February. According to TASE data seen by “Globes,” the share of foreign investors in daily trading on the TASE jumped from 35% before the war to 41% of trading during the war. The rest of the trading is divided between institutional investors, retail investors, nostro entities and others. Moreover, the share of foreign investors in trading has increased at a time when overall trading volume has increased.

From the beginning of 2026 until the war, the share of foreigners in trading on the TASE stood at NIS 1.2 billion per day (out of an average daily turnover of NIS 3.8 billion, excluding ETFs), while since the beginning of the war, their share has jumped to NIS 1.9 billion per day, out of an average daily trading turnover of NIS 4.6 billion, excluding ETFs.

“They really like arbitrage activity”

According to TASE data, in the first two weeks of the fighting, these foreign investors sold shares, mainly in the banking sector, after pouring large sums into it in 2024. But last week they returned to buying shares in Tel Aviv.

Romano says, “The move to trading on Fridays improved the overall trading volume, but particularly affected dual-traded stocks (those traded both in Tel Aviv and on Wall Street).” Thus, the share of foreigners in trading in these stocks on Fridays jumped to 48% of the total turnover, compared with only 16% in dual trading on Sundays. Accordingly, the total turnover in dual-traded stocks in Tel Aviv on Fridays jumped threefold, from NIS 255 million on Sundays last year to about NIS 1 billion on Fridays – almost half of it was due to foreign investors.

Romano adds, “The change in trading days was also made so that investors could respond to overseas markets as early as Friday. Foreigners really like arbitrage activity. It allows them to make quick profits and take advantage of the gap in trading hours between overseas and Israel. When trading was on Sunday, they responded once to trading on Thursday and Friday overseas, now they can respond as early as Friday and generate quick profits for themselves.”

A further examination conducted by the TASE research unit comparing dual trading data between the TASE and abroad found that trading volumes of dual-traded stocks increased in Tel Aviv by about 94% since the start of 2026, while abroad the increase in turnover in the same stocks is about 84%.

Coming soon: More dual-traded stocks in Tel Aviv?

The boom in trading in dual-traded stocks is important to the TASE for another reason. Following the recent listing of US cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks in Tel Aviv TASE VP economic department Ron Klein explains, “We are seeing a very significant increase in companies contacting us regarding dual listing. I cautiously estimate that this year we will see a significant number of new dual listing companies. If in previous years there were zero, or one or two of these, today there is interest that was not there before, and also concrete plans from big companies to carry out dual listing.”

When asked how much is a “significant number,” Klein declines to elaborate, but it can be assumed that they would certainly be happy if the number is 8-9 new dual listing companies.

The TASE claims that, in parallel with dual listing companies, private Israeli companies, which previously aimed at Wall Street, are also interested in listing for trading in Tel Aviv. “Companies worth $1-3 billion would not have looked at Tel Aviv in the past, but today, when the median value in Wall Street IPOs has already reached $6 billion, those Israeli companies are already looking at the TASE and understand that this is the relevant arena for the stage they are in,” says Klein. According to him, “In the past, foreign investment banks had to convince companies to go public in Tel Aviv, and today the companies already want it themselves.”

Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on March 24, 2026.

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