While starting the Muhurat trading on a positive note, both BSE Sensex and Nifty50 slipped in red to end the session flat.
NEW DELHI: Diwali began on a cautious note for Dalal Street this year. As investors marked the start of Samvat 2083 with the traditional one-hour Muhurat trading session, the Sensex and Nifty opened higher but failed to hold on to their gains, ending marginally lower after a seven-session rally. The decline also ended an eight-year run of gains for both benchmark indices during Diwali's special trading sessions. Investors booked profits after the recent rally, which had delivered the strongest weekly gains since February 2021.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 28.62 points, or 0.04%, to close at 80,999.40. It had risen as much as 414.09 points, or 0.51%, to an intraday high of 81,442.11 during the session. Of its 30 constituents, 16 ended higher and 14 lower. The NSE Nifty declined 43.95 points, or 0.18%, to settle at 24,986.40. It opened at 25,070 and touched an intraday high of 25,132 before slipping below the 25,000 mark.
Among Sensex stocks, Mahindra & Mahindra, InterGlobe Aviation, Trent, Infosys, Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank were among the biggest losers. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki and Power Grid were among the gainers. Despite the fall in the benchmark indices, investors' wealth increased by Rs 2.60 lakh crore, taking the total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies to Rs 5,05,67,743.40 crore, or around USD 5.37 trillion. The BSE SmallCap Select index gained 1.18%, while the MidCap Select index rose 0.22%.
Among sectoral indices, realty, focused IT, top 10 banks, consumer durables, PSU banks, private banks and IT ended lower. Healthcare, industrials, capital goods, hospitals and housing finance were among the sectors that gained. Muhurat trading is a special, one-hour stock market session held on Diwali. The occasion also marks the beginning of the new Hindu calendar year, known as Samvat. The session is considered auspicious by many investors, who believe that making a trade during the 'Muhurat' or auspicious hour can bring prosperity and financial growth. It is also a long-standing market tradition, with investors making symbolic purchases to mark the start of the new year.
Unlike regular trading days, when equity markets operate from 9.15 am to 3.30 pm, the Muhurat session is held for a shorter period. It coincides with Lakshmi Puja, when devotees pray to the goddess of wealth and prosperity. In the last Samvat Year 2082, the Sensex declined 3,398.32 points, or 4%, while the Nifty fell 838.25 points, or 3.24%. The benchmark indices, however, staged a sharp rally in the final trading week of the year. On Friday, the last trading session of Samvat 2082, the Sensex surged 1,718.01 points, or 2.17%, to close at the day's high of 81,028.02. The Nifty gained 493.75 points, or 2.01%, to settle at 25,030.35. Over the last seven consecutive sessions, the Sensex rose 7,781.99 points, or 10.62%, while the Nifty gained 2,331.5 points, or 10.27%.
Raamdeo Agrawal, chairman and co-founder of Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said the market could deliver strong returns in the coming year after two years of stagnation. "After two years of stagnation, market has the potential to give investors bumper returns by next Diwali, because of confluence of low valuation and high earnings growth. Potential crash in oil prices, stable currency, return of foreign investors, moderation of AI hype and broad-based earnings growth will support higher valuation multiples," he told PTI. Meanwhile, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 13,749.82 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. The US equity markets ended mostly higher on Friday.
