Foreign Holdings on Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Surge to Record $154 Billion

The Bank of Israel has released data on the Israeli economy's assets and liabilities abroad for the second quarter of 2026, highlighting foreign investors' holdings in the domestic market.

Foreign residents' portfolio value on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange reached a record high of approximately $154 billion at the end of June. This marks an increase of about $9 billion compared to the previous quarter, a 6% growth, and a surge of about $47 billion over the course of a year, representing a 43% jump.

During the quarter, foreign residents purchased securities on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange with a significant net volume of approximately $2 billion. These acquisitions included stocks and mutual funds totaling about $2.7 billion, partially offset by bond sales of about $0.75 billion. The gap between the increase in portfolio value and net purchases indicates that a substantial portion of the growth stemmed from rising share prices and the strengthening of the shekel.

The alignment of the trading week to Monday-Friday supported the expansion of trading volumes and foreign investor participation. Exchange data indicate a sharp rise in average trading volume on Fridays, reaching about 4 billion shekels—roughly 150% higher than the volume recorded on Sundays under the previous format. Concurrently, the share of foreign investors in trading rose from about 13% on Sundays to about 40% on Fridays.

Foreign investors are maintaining record exposure to the Israeli capital market and high demand for stocks traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. The transition to trading from Monday to Friday has reinforced this trend by aligning Israel's trading week with international markets and expanding the exchange's accessibility to global investors.

The data processing and chart were prepared by Nissan Avraham, a macro analyst in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's Research Department.