Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Israeli stocks fell the most in 11 years after the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange delayed the opening of trading by about 50 minutes.

The benchmark TA-25 Index fell as much as 8.7 percent, the most since October 1997, and was down 62.09, or 7.8 percent, to 735.83 at 11:02 a.m. in Tel Aviv. The exchange reopened today after a four-day holiday weekend during which the S&P 500 index lost 9.7 percent, ending its worst week in 75 years.

Stocks trading started at about 10:44 a.m. local time, instead of the usual 9:45 a.m. to 9:50 a.m. after pre-opening orders pushed the benchmark TA-25 Index more than 5 percent lower, the TASE, as the exchange is known, said in a faxed statement today. It was the fourth delay in three weeks.

To contact the reporters on this story: Tal Barak in Tel Aviv at tbarak@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 12, 2008 05:03 EDT