Guide
The Sunday-Thursday week
Why some Middle Eastern exchanges open on Sunday and close on Thursday.
In most of the Gulf and the Levant, the historical weekend was Thursday-Friday or just Friday - Friday being the Muslim day of communal prayer. Stock exchanges adopted Sunday-Thursday weeks to match the surrounding economy.
Who follows it
Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Tel Aviv all trade Sunday through Thursday.
Who changed
The UAE switched to a Western Monday-Friday week in January 2022, putting Dubai and Abu Dhabi out of sync with regional peers. The argument was alignment with global financial markets; the trade-off is one fewer trading day of overlap with Saudi Arabia.