Diwali 2026 Muhurat Trading: Celebrations aboard! Nifty gains in 12 out of 15 Muhurat sessions; check performance
Muhurat Trading 2026: The Indian stock market will usher in Samvat 2083 with its traditional Muhurat trading session on Sunday, November 8. The BSE and NSE will conduct the special one-hour session from 2:20 pm to 3:30 pm, allowing investors to make trades during an auspicious time traditionally associated with wealth and prosperity.
While Muhurat trading is often marked by symbolic investments and relatively low trading volumes, the session has generally ended on a positive note for benchmark indices. Over the last 15 Muhurat trading sessions, the Sensex and Nifty have recorded gains on 12 occasions, reflecting the tradition's largely positive track record.
However, the returns have varied significantly over the years, ranging from modest gains in recent sessions to a sharp rally during the global financial crisis. With Indian equities entering the new Samvat after a recent recovery, investors will also be watching market experts' assessment of the outlook for the year ahead.
The benchmark indices have mostly delivered positive returns during the special Diwali trading session, although gains in recent years have generally been modest.
In 2025, the Sensex and Nifty opened on a firm note and initially climbed to what were then their respective 52-week highs. However, they surrendered most of their gains as the session progressed and eventually closed nearly flat. The Sensex added 63 points to finish at 84,426, while the Nifty 50 rose 25 points to settle at 25,868.
The indices had gained around 0.1% in the 2025 Muhurat session, following a 0.4% rise in 2024 and a 0.5% gain in 2023. The special session had delivered stronger returns in 2022, when the indices advanced 1%. They also rose 0.5% in 2021, 0.47% in 2020, 0.37% in 2019 and 0.7% in 2018.
The trend was not uniformly positive. The indices declined 0.6% in 2017, 0.04% in 2016 and 0.3% in 2012. It rose 0.2% in 2011. The biggest gain in the historical record cited was recorded during the global financial crisis. On October 28, 2008, the benchmark indices surged nearly 6% during Muhurat trading, marking the strongest gain for the special session.
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Indian equities are entering Samvat 2083 on a stronger footing, supported by a six-session market recovery, renewed foreign institutional investor (FII) buying and easing crude oil prices, according to Ajit Mishra, SVP of Research at Religare Broking.
However, he cautioned that global technology-led volatility and geopolitical uncertainties could continue to influence market sentiment. Mishra expects the broader outlook to remain cautiously positive, with the possibility of intermittent consolidation following the recent rally.
“We expect the broader market outlook to remain cautiously positive, with intermittent consolidation after the recent rally. Investors should use Muhurat Trading to initiate selective positions in fundamentally strong companies rather than chase momentum,” he said.
Veteran banker Uday Kotak also shared his assessment of the market outlook ahead of the beginning of the new Hindu financial year. In his Diwali message shared by Kotak Neo, he said the past year had been shaped by rapidly changing developments in the global economy and financial markets.
“It was a year of geopolitics, AI, gold, oil, interest rates and fast-changing political environment in many parts of the world,” he said.
Kotak also pointed to a correction in market valuations, noting that Indian equities were no longer as expensive as they had been around a year ago. He highlighted the importance of foreign portfolio investment flows for the domestic market, particularly as global investment trends evolve.
“As the overhang of excessive investment in AI corrects, we do hope that the foreign portfolio investments stabilize. And we have to keep in mind that even today, foreign portfolio investments are about $700 billion outstanding. India is subject to those flows which will also have an impact on the stock market price,” he added.
As Dalal Street begins Samvat 2083, the combination of domestic market recovery, foreign investor flows and global developments is likely to remain important for the direction of equities. Muhurat trading may be a symbolic start to the new year, but investors will be looking beyond the one-hour session to assess the opportunities and risks ahead.
Pranati Deva is a seasoned financial journalist with over a decade of experience in high-pressure newsroom environments, currently working as a Senior Sub Editor at LiveMint. Over the years, she has developed a reputation for sharp editorial judgement, a strong grasp of market dynamics, and the ability to translate complex financial developments into clear, engaging stories for a wide audience. <br><br> Her core areas of coverage include stock markets, leading listed companies, currencies, and commodities, with a particular strength in fast-paced, real-time market reporting. She is known for handling breaking market news, earnings-driven stock movements, and macroeconomic developments with speed, accuracy, and context—qualities that are essential in financial journalism. <br><br> Pranati has built a diverse and credible professional track record across some of India’s most respected news organisations, including MintGenie, CNBC-TV18, Business Standard and EconomicTimes.com. During her stints at these platforms, she produced data-driven market stories, curated and steered live blogs during volatile trading sessions, and conducted interviews with market veterans, fund managers, economists, and industry experts. Her work often combines on-ground reporting with analytical depth, helping readers make sense of daily market fluctuations and longer-term trends. An alumnus of the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communications and Hansraj College, University of Delhi, Pranati brings a strong academic foundation to her journalism. She specialises in real-time financial reporting, with a keen focus on precision, balance, and insight, aiming to decode market movements in a way that is both informative and accessible to readers across experience levels.
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