Indian equity benchmarks -- BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty -- will be shut for a total of 10 days in November 2023. These 10-day holidays include festivals, Saturday and Sunday holidays. The domestic benchmarks will remain shut on November 14 (Tuesday) on account of Diwali Balipratipada and on November 27 (Monday) due to Gurunanak Jayanti.
Ahead of Diwali Balipratipada, Muhurat trading is set to be held on November 12 (Sunday), as per BSE. The time for this trading session has been fixed at 6 pm to 7:15 pm by the oldest exchange of the country. Although, there will be a pre-market session of 15 minutes.
Muhurat Trading is the special trading, which is held by the exchanges on the occasion of Diwali. During this period, the exchanges are open only for one hour where traders and investors can punch in token trades to mark the beginning of the 'new Samvat', which is new year in the financial markets.
It is considered as an auspicious occasion to start anything new, including investing in the stock market. Some people buy shares to create wealth for their future generations on Diwali. It is believed that buying stocks during Muhurat Trading brings good luck and prosperity throughout the year.
This year, being an exception, will have a gap of a day for the observation of the festival, which is also known as Bali Padyami or Virapratipada in some parts of the country.
BSE has listed 15 holidays for equity, equity derivatives, and SLB segments for the calendar year 2023. 12 have already taken place on Republic Day (January 26), Holi (March 7), Ram Navami (March 30), Mahavir Jayanti (April 4), Good Friday (April 7), Ambedkar Jayanti (April 14), Maharashtra Day (May 1), Bakri Id (June 28), Independence Day (August 15), Ganesh Chaturthi (September 19), Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti (October 2) and Dussehra (October 24).
The remaining listed stock market holidays in this year include Diwali Balipratipada, Guru Nanak Jayanti, and Christmas.
In November, stock exchanges will see no trading activity on the 14th and 27th on account of Diwali-Balipratipada and Gurunanak Jayanti, respectively. In December, bourses will remain closed on December 25 for Christmas.
Meanwhile, the headline indices were trading lower today, dragged by banks, financials, automobile and consumer stocks.
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