The number of companies traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) reached a nine-year high in 2021, while daily turnover was its highest in more than a decade, the TASE said on Wednesday.
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Some 540 companies are listed on the TASE, 53 of them dual listed in New York and on other exchanges. During the year, 97 companies listed, 55 of them high-tech, for the most annual listings since 1993, the exchange said in a report.
Listings peaked at 654 companies in 2007.
About 26 billion shekels ($8.2 billion) was raised in public companies on the TASE this year, up from nearly 17 billion ($5.4 billion) in 2020.
Daily turnover held steady at 1.9 billion shekels ($603 million) , but was up 43% from 2019, and the most since 2 billion ($635 million) in 2010.
Listings this year included Rada Electronic Industries (RADA.TA), in addition to its Nasdaq listing.
TASE chief executive Ittai Ben Zeev attributed the bourse's rebound partly to government steps to encourage more activity in the capital markets and "gives us a lot of optimism towards 2022."
"The stock exchange, as the home of the Israeli economy, today reflects more than ever the success of the local economy and the significant place in Israel," Ben Zeev said.
In 2019, the TASE became a public company at a time when it had lost 40% of its investors since 2010 and spent a number of years struggling with delistings and declining trading volumes.
Much of that came when global index provider MSCI upgraded Israel into a developed market and into a separate Europe and Middle East category from an emerging market, resulting in a loss of large emerging market flows that were never made up.
Last week, MSCI said it was considering reassigning Israel to a new region, likely Europe, which would open the door to large amounts of passive inflows for the Israeli capital markets.
So far in 2021, the blue-chip Tel Aviv 35 index (.TA35) has gained 26% versus an 11% decline last year while the broader index of 90 shares (.TA90) gained 29% -- outpacing the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100. Its general bond index rose 4% this year, up from 0.8% in 2020, although daily turnover for bonds slipped 4% to 4 billion shekels ($1.27 billion).
The TASE high-tech index, though, rose 4% in 2021 after a 39% jump last year.
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