D-Street Diwali: Mahurat Trading kick-starts at BSE with market in red

Ringing in the auspicious occasion of Diwali, the special trading session of Mahurat Trading flagged off at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), with the market indices opening lower.   
Actor Richa Chadda present at the Muhurat of trading begins at Bombay Stock Exchange. (ANI Twitter Photo)
Actor Richa Chadda present at the Muhurat of trading begins at Bombay Stock Exchange. (ANI Twitter Photo)

MUMBAI: Ringing in the auspicious occasion of Diwali, the special trading session of Mahurat Trading flagged off at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), with the market indices opening lower.

The 30-share BSE Sensex opened 6.46 points down at 32,577.89 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 4.70 points to 10,206.20.

Among the top gainers were Bharti Airtel, Lupin, Reliance Industries and Yes Bank, while UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Hero Motocorp recorded losses.

In the pre-opening trade, Sensex was up by 72.40 points at 32,656.75, while the Nifty fell 0.50 points to 10,210.40.

Also, gold prices fell by Rs. 250 to Rs. 30,750 per 10 grams, while Silver prices fell by Rs. 200 to Rs. 40,800 per kg.

Prior to the inaugural ceremony, BSE CEO Ashish Kumar Chouhan, while performing the ceremonious Laxmi Puja here had said that India is in a “sweet spot”, adding that the current rally is to do with India's internal circumstances, and international liquidity.

Apart from Chouhan, NASSCOM Chairman Harish Mehta and Bollywood actor Richa Chadda were also present at the ceremony.

Markets begin Samvat 2074 on weak note, Sensex tumbles 194 points

Benchmark Sensex surrendered early gains to end over 194 points lower at 32,389.96 in a special Muhurat trading session today to mark the beginning of Hindu Samvat year 2074.

Banking stocks led the fall as participants booked profits to write their first entry with gains on the first session of Samvat 2074, brokers said.

The broader NSE Nifty too dipped below the 10,200-mark in the special one-hour Muhurat session.

The BSE Sensex opened higher at 32,656.75 and advanced to a high of 32,663.06 on token buying activity as investors and funds opened their new accounts on the first session of Samvat 2074.

However, higher levels could not be sustained due to sudden sell-off by participants and the index slipped to 32,319.37, before settling 194.39 points, or 0.60 per cent down at 32,389.96.

The gauge had lost 49.29 points in the previous two sessions.

On similar lines, the broad-based NSE Nifty index, after shuttling between 10,211.95 and 10,123.35, ended 64.30 points, or 0.63 per cent lower at 10,146.55.

A weak trend at the European stock markets on Spain's escalating political crisis also fuelled selling towards the fag-end at the domestic bourses here, brokers added.

The Sensex gained 4,642.84 points, or 16.61 per cent, in the Hindu Samvat year 2073, while the broader NSE Nifty surged 1,572.85 points, or 18.20 per cent.

The laggards in the Muhurat session were banking, metal, PSU, infrastructure, power, oil & gas, auto, consumer durables, healthcare, realty, FMCG and IT sectors.

The broader markets outperformed the overall trend as investors created fresh positions, lifting the BSE small-cap index by 0.54 per cent and mid-cap index by 0.17 per cent.

Both the exchanges will be closed tomorrow for 'Diwali Balipratipada'.

Globally, in the euro zone, Frankfurt's DAX fell 0.63 per cent, while Paris CAC 40 shed 0.54 per cent. London's FTSE too fell 0.35 per cent.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.92 per cent, Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.34 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei ended 0.40 per cent higher.

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