Diwali Muhurat Trading 2026: NSE, BSE timings, Monday market schedule; what investors should know -

Indian equity benchmarks NSE and BSE will hold a special Muhurat Trading 2026 session on Sunday, November 8, for Diwali Laxmi Pujan. The special trading session is scheduled from 2:20 pm to 3:30 pm.

Muhurat trading is a special trading session held every year on Diwali. Coinciding with Lakshmi Puja, investors and traders consider the session auspicious, and it marks the beginning of Vikram Samvat, or the Hindu financial year.

Domestic equity markets will remain open for regular trading on Monday, November 9, following the special Muhurat Trading session on Sunday. However, the stock exchanges will remain closed on Tuesday, November 10, on account of Diwali Balipratipada.

Apart from the November 10 holiday, markets will observe two more trading holidays this calendar year. The first will be on November 24 on account of Prakash Gurpurb Sri Guru Nanak Dev, followed by Christmas on December 25.

VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, said, "Last week, the market witnessed a sudden and complete role reversal from institutions - FIIs (Foreign institutional investors) turned aggressive buyers, and DIIs (Domestic institutional investors) turned sellers on all days. The aggressive buying by the FIIs and the consequent short squeeze triggered a big rally in the market pushing up the Nifty by 7.58 per cent in a week. The sudden change in FII stance was triggered by the AI sell-off in the US and other AI markets like South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

This sell-off, in turn, was triggered by fears surrounding data centre spending in the US. The Democrats, who won both chambers of Congress, are opposed to indiscriminate data centre spending. They will demand guardrails for AI."

He added, "The AI sell-off has made India, which is widely regarded as a non-AI trade, attractive for FIIs. Furthermore, the impressive earnings growth in India and the attractive large-cap valuations made India a favoured investment destination."

FIIs have remained aggressive buyers of Indian equities in November so far, with net inflows of Rs 45,970 crore.

"FIIs have turned major buyers in index heavy weights in financials, IT, automobiles and telecom," Vijayakumar stated.

Ajit Mishra, SVP (Research) at Religare Broking, noted that sustained FII buying, coupled with a sharp appreciation in the rupee to a six-month high, further reinforced confidence in domestic equities.

"The near-term outlook has turned constructive following the sharp weekly recovery, supported by easing crude oil prices, improving global sentiment, renewed FII buying and encouraging corporate earnings. However, the pace of the recent advance warrants caution against chasing prices at elevated levels. The sustainability of the rally will depend on continued foreign inflows, earnings resilience and stability in global cues.

Participants should remain selective, with a preference for BFSI, pharma, realty and services, while identifying stock-specific opportunities in other sectors. Fresh allocations should be staggered, and traders should maintain disciplined risk management, particularly for overnight positions, amid the possibility of intermittent volatility and profit-booking," Mishra also said.

On the technical outlook for Nifty, Mishra said, "The sharp weekly rally has significantly improved the near-term setup, with the index reclaiming the 25,000-mark. Going ahead, the sustainability of this up move will be crucial in determining whether the recent recovery can develop into a broader and more durable uptrend. We expect the 24,200–24,500 zone to act as an important support base, while the index could extend its up move towards 25,200–25,600 in the coming sessions."