The National Stock Exchange (NSE) has officially confirmed November 8, 2026, as the date for Muhurat Trading, according to the exchange's formal notification. As reported by the NSE, the special live trading session will be held on Sunday, November 8, 2026, marking the continuation of this traditional festive market session. The exchange has outlined specific timings for the session, with normal market operations running from 2:20 pm to 3:30 pm, and a 15-minute pre-opening session from 2:05 pm to 2:20 pm. The session will be held on Sunday to coincide with Diwali celebrations and Lakshmi Puja across several parts of the country. MCX will hold its special session from 2:05 pm to 2:19 pm, while the trading session will run from 2:20 pm to 3:30 pm, with contracts of all commodities and indices available for trading. The BSE and NSE will remain closed on November 10 for Diwali-Balipratipada, while the market will be open for the one-hour special Muhurat Trading session. According to the latest NSE circular dated October 19, 2026, the session will mark the beginning of Samvat 2083.
According to BS Research analysis, the special Muhurat trading session has demonstrated a positive bias over the past decade, with the Sensex and Nifty 50 gaining on eight of the 10 Muhurat sessions between 2016 and 2025. The two indices declined on only two occasions during this period, with the Sensex's average return of 0.34% and Nifty 50 averaging 0.31% across the 10 sessions. The strongest Muhurat-day performance came in 2022, when both indices rose 0.88% each on October 24. Conversely, the weakest session was in 2017, when the Sensex fell 0.60% and Nifty declined 0.63%. The latest session held on October 21, 2025, saw the Sensex close at 84,426, up 0.07%, while the Nifty 50 ended at 25,869, gaining 0.10%. Notably, one of the most notable Muhurat Trading sessions took place on October 28, 2008, amid the global financial crisis, when benchmark indices surged nearly 6%, recording their biggest-ever gains during the ceremonial session.
While Muhurat sessions have generally ended positively, the performance in the month following these sessions has been less consistent than the session-day trend. The Sensex was higher one month later in eight of the 10 sessions between 2016 and 2025, while the Nifty 50 posted gains in seven instances. The average one-month return worked out to 1.69% for the Sensex and 1.43% for the Nifty. The strongest post-session performance came after the 2023 Muhurat trading session, when the Sensex advanced 6.58% over the following month and Nifty gained 7.07%. Similarly, the month after the 2020 session saw gains of 5.99% for the Sensex and 6.09% for the Nifty. However, there were periods when initial optimism did not sustain, including following the 2021 Muhurat session when the Sensex declined 5.53% and Nifty fell 5.61% over the next month.
According to the NSE notification, the trading session will follow a structured timeline with key operational milestones. The normal market opens at 2:20 pm and closes at 3:30 pm, providing investors with a brief window for participation. The cut-off for position limit and collateral value set-up is at 3:40 pm, along with trade modification end time also at 3:40 pm. For stocks covered under the periodic call auction mechanism, the order entry period runs from 2:25 pm to 3:10 pm, followed by matching between 3:10 pm and 3:20 pm, with the closing auction schedule beginning at 3:15 pm. The stock and index futures price bands will be updated at 3:15 PM (IST). Under the T+1 settlement cycle, all the trades executed during the Muhurat Trading session will be completed on Monday, November 9. The session represents an age-old Diwali tradition involving low volumes where investors trade during this auspicious start of the new financial year, which coincides with Lakshmi Puja. The pre-open session on Sunday will begin at 2:05 pm, with order entry for both limit and market orders permitted until 2:10 pm. Only limit orders will be accepted between 2:10 pm and 2:15 pm, followed by order matching and confirmation period from 2:15 pm to 2:17 pm, with a buffer period until 2:20 pm.
Market experts emphasize that Muhurat trading represents an opportunity for long-term investment rather than short-term speculation. Abhinav Tiwari from Bonanza Research recommends using the occasion to begin investment journeys with a long-term approach, noting positive outlook on banking, financial services, capital goods, power transmission, defence and select consumption stocks for Samvat 2083. Sunny Agrawal from SBI Securities identifies wealth creation opportunities in Auto OEMs and Auto Ancillary, Capital Goods/Engineering sectors, BFSI, EMS, Recycling, New age platform businesses, and Metals/Mining. Despite the positive historical bias, analysts caution that gains during Muhurat sessions have not always carried forward, with the data suggesting that the direction of trading on Muhurat day does not reliably signal the market's performance in the weeks that follow. The age-old tradition of Muhurat Trading was initiated by the Bombay Stock Exchange in 1957, and has been continued by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) since 1992. Traditionally, brokers performed Chopda Pujan, a ritualistic worship of account books, during this session to mark the auspicious start of the new financial year. For many Dalal Street investors, making fresh investments during Muhurat Trading is considered auspicious, as the session marks the beginning of a new Hindu calendar year and is associated with prosperity and good fortune.
