Equity markets began Samvat 2081 on a positive note on Friday with benchmark indices Nifty and Sensex rising 0.4% each to close the special one-hour Muhurat trading session at 24,304.35 points and 79,724.12 points, respectively.
Maintaining the trend seen in the past few years, the broader market outperformed the benchmarks. The BSE Smallcap index ended the special trading session 1.2% higher and the BSE Midcap index rose 0.7%. The investor wealth rose by Rs 3.21 lakh crore in the one-hour session, rising to Rs 447.95 lakh crore, with 3,026 stocks ending in the green on the BSE as against 549 losers.
The gains in the market were largely similar to historical returns seen in the previous Muhurat trading sessions. The key indices have given returns in the range of 0.3% to 0.9% in the previous five Muhurat trading sessions. Stock exchanges hold a special Muhurat trading session for an hour on Diwali. It is believed to be an auspicious time to buy assets, including stocks.
All the sectoral indices, barring the Nifty IT index, ended in the green in the latest Muhurat trading session.
Automobile companies were the biggest gainers amid focus on monthly sales numbers. The Nifty Auto index rose 1.2% as Mahindra & Mahindra topped the charts with 3.3% gains.
Joining M&M on the list of top Sensex gainers were Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones, Tata Motors and Axis Bank.
While Samvat 2081 has begun on a positive note, market participants are cautious on the near-term momentum due to slowing earnings and economic growth, and consistent selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs).
Axis Securities believes the US elections, economic recovery in China, festival season activity, and US bond yield movements will be some of the key monitorables for Samvat 2081.
“These factors are expected to introduce volatility to the Indian equity market, which could react in either direction depending on how these events unfold. In the near term, some capital allocation may shift towards China, given the latest developments there,” the brokerage firm said.
Experts believe the returns for Samvat 2081 could be cut down to as much as half of Samvat 2080’s returns. Nifty and Sensex rose 22.3% and 24.6%, respectively, during the year, and the broader market indices gained between 41-44%.
Brokerage firm Motilal Oswal said the earnings growth of the 34 Nifty companies that have declared results till October 31 have been flat year-on-year against the estimated growth of 2%. This has led to downgrade in Nifty earnings per share (EPS) by 1.2%/1% for FY25/FY26, respectively.