In just under two months, one of the most dramatic reforms that the Israeli capital market has seen since its establishment will take effect: shifting trading to Monday through Friday instead of Sunday through Thursday.
Seemingly, this is merely a technical calendar change. In practice, it is an earthquake that will ripple into employment structures, the way tens of thousands of workers’ workdays are built, and how Israel’s economy functions throughout the week.
Beginning in January, Sunday will close as a trading day for the first time in 72 years at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, while Friday will become a shortened trading day.
The formal logic is based on a justified intention: to align the stock exchange’s operating days with Western markets and increase the chances of joining important indices such as MSCI Europe.
Yet on the ground, this move creates a domino effect whose depth few in Israel fully grasp.
How changing trading days reshapes work and life
First, the financial employment market is about to change fundamentally. Sunday, which for years was the busiest day for trading rooms, investment houses, insurance companies, and funds, will become a financial day of rest.
Not only will trading be closed, but reporting mechanisms, clearing, yields, and oversight will all come to a halt.
The result is a shortening of the actual workweek: five days of financial activity shrink to four and a half. Sunday will be a day of rest for workers in the financial sector, while Friday will become a strange combination of a half working day and a complex logistical event.
This move reduces working hours in the financial sector, which will in turn raise new dilemmas: Will salaries remain the same despite the reduction in total work hours? How will the lost time be compensated?
Will employees need to work more during the regular workdays?
Still, the employment challenges are only the first layer. The change will ultimately affect city systems and operational infrastructures.
Parking lots, cleaning systems, security companies, and transportation lines – all will need to operate on Friday morning at a scale that has not existed until now.
In cities like Tel Aviv, where Friday is a day of leisure and culture, there will also be implications for parking costs for employees, as prices on Fridays are much higher than on regular weekdays.
From a transportation standpoint, public transit will need reinforcement on Fridays if it becomes a workday for tens of thousands of financial sector workers. This is a significant operational and economic cost that likely was not fully considered in the decision to change the trading days.
On the other hand, the fact that the entire financial sector will shut down on Sunday may also change consumption, movement, and service patterns in Israel.
If until now investment houses, banks, and insurance companies were open and active on Sundays, will financial services now be unavailable to the public for a full day?
Will the private sector adapt itself? Will Sundays become a “calm” workday for the entire economy? Will we perhaps see increased demand for non-financial services on this day, such as restaurants, vacations, culture, and shopping?
For example, in hotels, the Saturday night rate is usually lower than usual. Will this change? Will more people take vacations from Saturday to Monday?
How will this affect leisure culture in families where one spouse works from Sunday to Thursday while the other works from Monday to Friday?
To understand the extent of the impact of this decision, one can look at what happened in the UAE since they changed trading days in January 2022 from Sunday-Thursday to Monday-Friday, similar to what is about to occur in Israel.
Wider ripples: transport, leisure, and the Israeli economy
From a transportation perspective, for example, the UAE observed a decrease in traffic congestion on Saturdays and Sundays, compared with an increase on Friday mornings.
Hotels also reported a 10-15% increase in occupancy on Saturdays and Sundays, primarily from domestic tourism.
Another consequence observed in the UAE was the need for renewed coordination between the government, financial institutions, and the private sector.
This required new legislation, regulations, and guidelines for employers and the education system, as well as full coordination with banks, clearing systems, the tax authority, insurance companies, institutional bodies, and more.
Make no mistake: the change in trading days is not a “technical update.” It is a reform with economic and social implications that likely were not fully considered.
Only in a few months will we know whether this will be a revolution that advances the market or a move that destabilizes systems and leaves us with more questions than answers.
The writer is chief trading officer and head of Psagot Trade at Psagot Investment House.