After hitting their new 52-week highs in the one-hour special Muhurat trading on Tuesday, equity benchmarks – Nifty 50 and Sensex – closed only around 0.1% higher due to profit-booking. This was the worst Muhurat trading session in eight years. However, broader indices outperformed the benchmark indices. 

The Nifty 50 settled at 25,868.60 points after hitting 25,934.35 intraday, its highest level since September 30, 2024 and the 30-stock Sensex closed at 84,426.34 after touching a new 52-week high of 84,665.44. BSE smallcap closed nearly 1% higher and BSE Midcap was 0.2% higher at close. 

The investor wealth also touched a new one-year high of Rs 470.1 lakh crore gaining Rs 115,248 crore in Tuesday’s Muhurat session. 

However, the overall mood was quite buoyant. Nilesh Shah, MD, Kotak Mutual Fund said,” Next Samvat year earnings will recover to double digit on back of stimulus measures taken by the government. Market valuations are unlikely to be re-rated and hence returns will be somewhere around earnings growth.”

Ponmudi R, CEO – Enrich Money said, “Despite lighter volumes and bouts of mild profit booking, the index maintained its footing well above key short-term supports, underscoring firm underlying momentum and continued investor confidence.”

Samir Arora, founder of Helios Capital, told CNBC TV-18 in an interview that this year, India had the worst relative underperformance in 30 years. “That doesn’t last beyond a point,” he said, adding that global money is being put in non-US markets due to the underperformance and India has a valid claim in that.

However, he noted, India has lost foreign investor’s money due to the extra tariff but that is getting over. Moreover, the cuts in interest rates, GST, and taxes will also support India markets. He advised investors to moderate return expectations to around 12%. 

Dhiraj Relli, CEO of HDFC Securities also said, “We expect Indian markets to deliver low double-digit returns from this Samvat as we expect 9% aggregate earnings growth in FY26, followed by mid-teens growth in FY27.” 

He added with H2FY26 expected to drive earnings recovery, and improved corporate performance likely crucial for attracting FII flows back to India, markets are likely to perform well. “We expect a mutually acceptable resolution to US trade negotiations to eliminate policy uncertainty and restore FII confidence,” he said.

Except BSE Realty and BSE Bankex, which closed flat, all sectoral indices on the BSE ended higher. Telecom and industrial were the top gainers. HDFC Bank, Infosys, and Axis Bank contributed most to Nifty’s rise but fall in ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, and Bharti Airtel weighed.

In BSE Smallcap, top performing stocks were Mafatlal Industries, Spectrum Electricals, and DCB Bank rising 9.7%-20%. The market breadth was skewed in the favour of buyers as 3,023 stocks rose and only 954 fell.