Markets closed on account of Diwali Balipratipada

Trading segments including Indian equity, forex, money and commodity markets are shut today on account of Diwali Balipratipada.

 

The special ‘Muhurat’ trading session on Thursday to mark the beginning of Samvat 2071, the Hindu new year, ended with modest gains, but optimism and cheer was palpable among traders at BSE. 

 

During the 75-minute trading, the benchmark Sensex rose 63.2 points, or 0.2 per cent over its previous close, to end at 26,851.1. The 50-share National Stock Exchange Nifty added 15.8 points, or 0.2 per cent, to close above the psychological 8,000 mark, at 8,011.7. 

 

On Thursday, the BSE Mid-cap index gained 93.9 points, or 0.98 per cent, to close at 9,669.8. The BSE Small-cap soared 1.5 per cent to end at 10,668.0.

 

Foreign funds were net sellers in equities to the tune of Rs 12.38 crore on Thursday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

 

Analysts said the measures taken by the government on the economic reforms front in the past few days had inspired investors. And, if the Centre took more initiatives in the coming weeks, it would set the tone for another year of good returns, they said.

 

Global Markets: 

 

U.S. stock futures tumbled while safe-haven assets such as the yen and U.S. bonds gained on Friday after media reported that a doctor who returned to New York City from West Africa has tested positive for Ebola.

 

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.91%, to 16,549.21, whereas the Nasdaq Composite added 1.60% to 4,452.79.

 

Asian shares also lost some ground with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipping 0.1 percent.

 

Japan's Nikkei share average also gave up some of earlier gains, though it was still up 0.79 percent on the day.

 

Similarly, Hand Seng and Shanghai Composite gained between 0.3-1.2%. However, Straits Times lost 0.4%.