The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) is trading on Friday for the first time.
Until now, TASE traded from Sunday to Thursday, since Israel's banks and businesses close around noon to allow the country to prepare for Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath, which begins Friday evening), while Sunday in Israel is a regular business day.
Now, Israel's trading will be aligned with the global schedule.
Yaniv Pagot, the Vice President of Trading at TASE, said: "We started the trading day with a historic first option expiration, which saw a trading volume of approximately 106 million shekels."
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich commented, "As part of our reforms to strengthen the Israeli economy, we have moved the stock exchange to operate Mondays through Fridays to align trading days with what is customary in stock exchanges worldwide, enable the Israeli stock exchange to join international indices, and encourage both Israeli and international companies to issue shares under the blue-and-white flag."
"We did this, obviously, while taking precautions to avoid desecrating Shabbat, both by setting appropriate operating hours and through regulatory instructions from the Securities Authority, which postpone most of the trading closure activities to Sunday. We will continue, G-d willing, to strengthen Israel's economy and fortify the power of the State of Israel," said Smotrich.