Market may open lower on muhurat session

Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could fall 54 points at the opening bell on the occasion of a special one-hour muhurat trading session. Weakness in global stocks may weigh on sentiment.

The stock markets will remain open for muhurat trading today, 19 October 2017. The muhurat trading session on account of Diwali Laxmi Pujan will be held between 18:30 IST and 19:30 IST today, 19 October 2017. The normal session of equity markets remained closed today, 19 October 2017, on account of Diwali and will remain closed again tomorrow, 20 October 2017, on account of Diwali Balipratipada.

Muhurat session is held every year more from an auspicious standpoint as for a lot of the business communities the new financial year begins on Diwali. Investors make token purchases on this day to bring them good fortune in future.

Meanwhile, key benchmark indices closed the lackluster trading session with small losses yesterday, 18 October 2017. The Sensex lost 24.81 points or 0.08% to settle at 32,584.35, its lowest closing level since 13 October 2017.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 1251.16 crore yesterday, 18 October 2017, as per the provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 904.27 crore yesterday, 18 October 2017, as per the provisional data.

Overseas, European stocks dropped as it appeared increasingly likely that the Spanish government would begin the process of imposing direct rule in the region of Catalonia more than two weeks after the regional leader there held a disputed independence referendum. Spain is in the midst of its biggest constitutional crisis in almost four decades after the leader of one of its wealthiest regions, Catalonia's Carles Puigdemont, held a referendum on secession on October 1 despite the country's highest court, the Spanish Constitutional Court, declaring the vote invalid.

Most Asian stocks declined after data showed growth in China, the world's second largest economy slowed slightly in the third quarter. Data showed China's economic growth cooled slightly to 6.8% in the third quarter from a year earlier, from the second quarter's 6.9%, as widely predicted.

All three major US equity indexes yesterday, 18 October 2017, closed at records simultaneously for the 23rd time in 2017, and the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average ended above the 23,000 mark for the first time ever, as US equities rode the latest round of corporate earnings fresh peaks.

The Fed's Beige Book report, which gathers economic anecdotes from across the US central bank's regional districts, showed that economic growth has ranged from modest to moderate. A report on the housing industry showed that permits and home starts were both down in September. Permits fell by 4.5% on the month at 1.27 million, while starts fell by 4.7% to 1.13 million, according to the Commerce Department.

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