THE WORLD’S TRADERS are enjoying a brief respite this weekend before the stock markets resume their usual chaos tomorrow – but any hope of a relatively quiet week may have been dashed already.

The Israeli stock exchange in Tel Aviv – one of the few anywhere in the world to trade on a Sunday – has closed after a topsy-turvy day, when its main stock index opened with an immediate 3.3 per cent loss, but still managed to finish the day well into positive territory.

The main Tel Aviv 25 index – a weighted index representing the largest 25 stocks on the exchange – closed at 1097.57, a gain of 14.39 points (or 1.35 per cent).

The index had opened down at 1029.73 – a loss of 3.3 per cent – and quickly fell even lower, no doubt causing some anxiousness among traders watching on and hoping for an indication of how the coming week’s trading might turn out.

But having treaded water without making much ground for around four hours, the last two hours saw a remarkable rally on the exchange – with the TA25 index coming back to parity with under an hour to go.

The index continued its rally, and ended the day well into positive territory – giving cause for optimism among traders, who will have been able to analyse Tel Aviv’s movements on their own right and without the context of international rallies or collapses.

The next indication of whether European and US shares can recover some of their lost ground will come later this evening, when Asian markets open for Monday trading.