The Indian stock market will remain closed for 11 days in October 2026, with trading suspended on BSE and NSE due to special holidays and weekend closures. According to Business Standard, this represents a significant operational disruption for equity markets, with the closure period including both national holidays and weekend closures. The extended closure period creates substantial impact on trading activities and portfolio management strategies during key market weeks. With October featuring both festival holidays and regular weekend closures, investors will have several non-trading days to factor into their plans.
The most significant market closure occurs on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti, which is a nationwide holiday affecting all trading activities on BSE and NSE. As reported by The Times of India, both NSE and BSE will remain closed for regular trading on Friday, October 2, with trading suspended during the regular session. The Friday holiday on October 2 will give traders and investors a three-day break from market activity, including the weekend. Observed every year on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti marks the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, one of the central figures of India's freedom struggle. This represents the 12th stock market holiday of the 2025-26 calendar year (CY26) and the first trading holiday of October. The last regular trading session before this holiday will be Thursday, October 1, with trading resuming on Monday, October 5. The regular trading session for Indian equities runs from 9:15 am to 3:30 pm, while the pre-open session begins at 9:00 am.
The remaining October holidays include October 20, Dussehra, which marks the end of Durga Puja and Navaratri celebrations, with trading suspended on BSE and NSE. October 21, Vijaya Dasami/Durga Puja, affects trading in Agartala, Bengaluru, Gangtok, Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata and Thiruvananthapuram. October 22-23, Durga Puja, will close markets in Gangtok, while October 26, Laxmi Puja/Accession Day, affects Agartala, Chandigarh, Jammu, Shimla and Srinagar. As per Mint, October 20 (Dussehra/Maha Navami/Ayutha Pooja/Durga Puja) will close branches in Agartala, Aizawl, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Guwahati, Imphal, Itanagar, Kohima, Kolkata, Patna, Ranchi, and Shillong. The complete October holiday schedule includes weekend closures on October 3-4, October 10-11, October 17-18, October 24-25, and October 31.
Indian benchmark indices ended lower on Thursday, extending their losing streak for the fourth consecutive session with the Nifty closing around 22,400. At close, the Sensex was down 570.59 points or 0.79% at 71,909.70, while the Nifty fell 198.50 points or 0.88% at 22,421.95. For the week, BSE Sensex shed 2.7% and Nifty fell 3%, marking the extended losing streak for the 8 straight weeks for the first time in 25 years. The sell-off extended beyond large-cap stocks, with the Nifty Smallcap 100 slipping 0.97% and the Nifty Midcap 100 declining 1.01%. Among sectoral indices, the Nifty Auto index emerged as the biggest laggard, falling more than 3%, while the Nifty Metal, Nifty FMCG and Nifty Consumer Durables indices each declined by around 2%. The total market capitalisation of companies listed on the NSE stood at approximately ₹467.54 lakh crore, equivalent to around $4.87 trillion.
The recent market decline was driven by multiple external factors affecting investor sentiment. As reported by The Times of India, persistent foreign fund selling, elevated bond yields and a fresh rise in crude oil prices weighed on market sentiment during Thursday's session. Foreign institutional selling remained a major factor, with exchange data showing FIIs sold equities worth ₹10,148.41 crore on Wednesday. Over five consecutive sessions through Wednesday, their cumulative selling stood at ₹34,203.14 crore. Brent crude also rose 2.77% to $100.8 per barrel, adding to market pressures. Vinod Nair from Geojit Investments attributed the sell-off to external factors, with bond yields reaching multi-year highs and crude prices remaining elevated, raising concerns over the economic outlook for 2026-27. Hariselvan Radhakrishnan from HST Wealth noted that the renewed rise in the US 10-year Treasury yield towards 5.34% increased the relative appeal of dollar assets and raised the valuation hurdle for emerging-market equities.
