New Delhi: Benchmark BSE Sensex rose nearly 448 points in the early session of special Muhurat trading on across-the-board buying by investors to mark the start of the new Samvat Year 2081. The 30-share index increased 447.90 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 79,836.96 as all of its constituents traded in the green. The index opened higher at 80,023.75 but shed some gains later.

The 50-issue Nifty of the NSE spurted 150.10 points, or 0.62 per cent, to 24,355.45 with 47 of its constituents ending in the green. Among major Sensex movers, Mahindra & Mahindra rose 2.66 per cent, Adani Ports 1.42 per cent, and Tata Motors by 1.35 per cent.

NTPC, Axis Bank, Titan, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel also advanced. Muhurat trading is a one-hour, symbolic trading session conducted by stock exchanges on the occasion of Diwali, marking the start of the new Samvat year.

During the Samvat year 2080 that ended on Thursday, the BSE Sensex jumped 14,484.38 points, or 22.31 per cent, while the Nifty climbed 4,780 points, or 24.60 per cent. Global markets were mixed as European shares rose in early trade. Most Asian markets closed with losses.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 2.6 per cent, the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.2 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.5 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.9 per cent.

New Delhi: Diwali is one of the most popular festivals of India, marked by joy and fervour. Apart from the celebrations, this day has a special significance in the share market due to the ‘Muhurat Trading’ session that is held on the festival day every year.  

The new Samvat or Hindu New Year begins at the time of Diwali. During this time, many investors believe that trades made during Muhurat draw prosperity for the year ahead.

In view of these sentiments of the people, a special window of one hour is given for investing in the stock market on Diwali. In this special session, investors can easily invest in shares through their demat account.

In 2024, the Muhurat trading session will be held on the evening of November 1 and people will be able to invest in the stock market from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. However, trading in the market is closed during the day.

During the Muhurat trading session, normal trading takes place in all segments of the market and one can trade in derivatives along with equity. Muhurat trading was first started on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in 1957. Muhurat trading on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) started in 1992.

Before the introduction of electronic demat accounts, traders used to participate in Muhurat trading on the exchanges. If the history of the last 11 years of Muhurat Trading sessions is reviewed, the stock market has performed positively in 9 out of 11 sessions. Since 2018, the market has consistently given positive returns on the day of Muhurat Trading. Only in 2016 and 2017, it gave negative returns.

In last year’s Muhurat Trading session, the Sensex rose 355 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 65,259 and the Nifty 50 index rose 100 points, or 0.52 per cent, to close at 19,525. During this period, midcap and smallcap stocks performed better, with the BSE Midcap index giving a return of 0.67 per cent and the BSE Smallcap index giving a return of 1.14 per cent.