After a ceremonial Muhurat trading session on Tuesday marking the start of Samvat 2082, Indian stock markets will remain shut on Wednesday, October 22, for Diwali Balipratipada. Trading resumes on Thursday, with focus shifting to Q2 earnings and global cues.
The one-hour Muhurat trading session, held between 1:45 pm and 2:45 pm, opened strong with the Sensex climbing over 270 points and Nifty briefly crossing 25,900. Gains, however, faded as profit-booking kicked in, leaving both indices marginally higher. Largecaps like Infosys, HDFC Bank, and Mahindra & Mahindra led early momentum before tapering off.
Despite the flat close, investor sentiment remained upbeat. The session, steeped in tradition, is seen as an auspicious start to the financial year by traders and institutions alike. Activity was concentrated in financials, auto majors, and energy stocks, with light but healthy volumes.
Markets now enter Samvat 2082 with cautious optimism. “Samvat 2081 was a year of consolidation due to a sharp earnings slowdown to around 5%,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. “If earnings grow 8–10% in FY26 and reach 15% in FY27, we could see a strong rally.”
Amisha Vora, Chairperson and MD at PL Capital, echoed the positive outlook. “India lagged global peers last year despite strong fundamentals. But with most earnings downgrades behind us and GDP growth expected at 6.8%, the setup is in place for an earnings-led rebound.”
Markets were buoyed by declining stubble burning and easing domestic inflation but will continue to watch global risks like US-China trade tensions and volatile crude prices.
The next full trading session on Thursday will see investors digest fresh quarterly results, especially from the financial, IT, and energy sectors, potentially setting the tone for the early days of Samvat 2082.
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