Just under a month ago, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange was decked out in festive garb, when for the first time in its history trading took place on it on a Friday. The exchange thus completed a move that it had been promoting for years to switch from a Sunday to Thursday trading week to Monday to Friday, with the aim of coming into line with the global norm, and making the Israeli market more attractive in the eyes of foreign investors.
Now, after four Friday sessions, it looks as though at least for the time being the move on which the stock exchange together with all the market players worked for a long time is bearing fruit. With consistently rising trading volumes and growing involvement of foreign investors, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange can be happy with the change, to which even local private investors are starting to become accustomed.
“We are becoming part of the world,” is how Tel Aviv Stock Exchange CEO Ittai Ben-Zeev described the decision to switch to Friday trading in an interview with “Globes” podcast “Market Forces,” a few days before the first Friday session. “Markets around the world are open from Monday to Friday, and I think that this is a historically significant step that shows many countries and investors all over the world that the Israeli markets wants their investment in our companies.”
It is doubtful, however, whether Ben-Zeev, who was one of the proponents of the change, expected that it would make its mark in the very first weeks, and so significantly. According to Tel Aviv Stock Exchange figures, in the first four Friday sessions the average turnover in equities was NIS 2.5 billion, 67% higher than the average turnover on Sundays in the preceding year (NIS 1.5 billion).
This led to average daily turnover in January 2026 being considerably higher than in 2025. Average daily turnover in equities in January this year was NIS 4.8 billion, 40% higher than last year’s average, and this is after turnovers rose 50% last year in comparison with 2024, an increase that was explained by the rise in the leading indices in Tel Aviv.
The stock exchange attributes the sharp rise in turnover mainly to the participation of foreign investors, thanks to the switch to Monday to Friday trading. In 2025, foreign investors’ share of trading on Sudays was just 12%, while on Fridays last month it was 22%.
The trend strengthened from week to week. Last Friday, January 30, turnover in equities totaled NIS 2.95 billion, with activity by overseas investors accounting for NIS 850 million (29%), the highest level of any of the Fridays last month.
In addition, the stock exchange points out, the general public has also visibly adapted to the change in the trading schedule. Activity by retail investors totaled NIS 280 million last Friday, more than on the previous three Fridays (about NS 220 million). “As the market continues to adapt operationally and technologically to the new trading format, a further rise can be expected in the volume of activity on Fridays,” the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Research Unit estimates.
“Friday is a fruitful day as far as we are concerned; we’re seeing our customers’ interest,” says Meitav Trade CEO Osher Tubul, “At first it was feared that people would perhaps not invest on that day and trading would be thin, but in fact we’re seeing extensive trading.
“From Friday to Friday we’re seeing more activity, more interest, and more enquiries. So I think that in time, as people get used to trading on Fridays, we’ll see volumes continue to rise. On the face of it therefore, from the first month, it seems that it’s a successful move.”
Market players also attribute the success to the exchange’s strong performance, making it more attractive for investors. After a rise of over 50% in 2025, the Tel Aviv 35 Index and the Tel Aviv 125 Index rose 10% and 9% respectively in January.
“There’s no doubt that the switch to trading on Friday has done the local market good,” says Horizon Capital Markets founder and CEO Itay Lipkovitz. “It mainly enables foreign investors to come into the market. Perhaps a little surprisingly, the liquidity level on Fridays can be seen to be very good, and it’s not some kind of curiosity. The fact that we are seeing higher liquidity on Fridays than we were on Sundays indicates to my mind that foreign investors must be involved here, and that they very much like what the stock exchange has done.”
Nevertheless, Lipkovitz is clear that the move could not have succeeded were it not for the strong performance of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange recently. “Had they done this at a time when the Israeli stock market was less good, I doubt whether there it would have generated any real added value for it, but because of the success of the Israeli market, and because it is now attracting foreign money, the trading on Friday gives the foreign players, especially from Europe and Asia, more opportunity for trading here. “
Looking ahead, Tel Aviv Stock Exchange management is sure that the switch will continue to help to swell volumes. “The market is learning and internalizing the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s new trading week. It’s a sharp change in trading habits that requires both technological and cultural adaptation. We are certain, however, that the high volumes of activity recorded in the first two weeks of the change will continue and even grow in the near future,” the exchange said.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on February 3, 2026.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2026.
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