Nifty, Sensex rise in special 'muhurat' trading session on Diwali; global cues buoy indices, auto stocks up

Mumbai: Shares made modest gains in a special “muhurat” one-hour trading session for Diwali on Wednesday, shored up by large-cap IT and financial stocks. The benchmark Sensex gained 248 points or rose 0.7 percent to 35,237.68, while the broader Nifty climbed 64.75 points  or 0.65 percent to 10,598.40. The S&P BSE Sensex, which opened at 35,301.88 points, traded at 35,240.15 points (at 6.15 p.m.) – up 248.24 points or 0.71 percent from Tuesday’s close at 34,991.91 points. In Samvat 2074, the S&P BSE Sensex gained eight percent on a year-on-year basis, while the Nifty50 rose 3.8 percent. Broadly positive global markets along with lower crude oil prices pushed the key equity indices higher during the special “Muhurat” trade session. Reflecting the bullish mood, all sectoral indices ended with gains, led by auto, oil and gas, FMCG, IT and tech. [caption id=“attachment_4748931” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] The special hour-long session held every year on Diwali day to mark the start of the Hindu New Year saw the key equity indices – S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 – make gains during the intra-trade period. According to market observers, the special session to mark Samvat 2075 witnessed healthy buying in automobile, capital goods, oil and gas and banking stocks. Brokers said buying activity gathered momentum as investors opened their new books on the first session of Samvat 2075. Stocks rally In the Sensex kitty, prominent gainers were M&M, Infosys, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, Vedanta Ltd, ITC Ltd, Asian Paints, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, ONGC, ICICI Bank, HUL, Yes Bank, NTPC, RIL, L&T, Kotak Bank, Coal India, PowerGrid, TCS, Sun Pharma, HDFC Ltd, HDFC Bank, Wipro and Adani Ports, rising by up to 1.97 percent. Software services exporter Infosys Ltd was the top boost to the Nifty with a gain of 1.4 percent. Manappuram Finance Ltd climbed 4.9 percent after the non-banking financial company on Tuesday reported strong quarterly earnings. Globally, Wall Street stock futures rose Wednesday after Democrats won control of the US House of Representatives, boosting the party’s ability to block President Donald Trump’s political and economic agenda.

Auto stocks also saw strong buying interest with the Nifty Auto index rising nearly 1 percent. Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd led the gains with a rise of 1.9 percent and was the biggest percentage gainer on the NSE index.

Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 118 crore, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 499.7 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data. In the Asian region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.10 percent, while Taiwan was up 0.85 percent. Japan’s Nikkei, however, shed 0.28 percent. In Europe, Paris CAC 40 surged 1.36 percent, Frankfurt’s DAX gained 1 percent, while London’s FTSE rose 1.17 percent in early deals. Special trading session The special trading session held every year on Diwali is considered to be auspicious for stock market trading.

It is believed that the “Muhurat” trading on this day brings wealth and prosperity throughout the year. This ritual has been observed for ages by the trading community.

The BSE and NSE will remain closed on Thursday (8 November) on the occasion of ‘Diwali Balipratipada’. --With inputs from agencies