Sensex, Nifty start Samvat 2081 on a high

Stock exchanges BSE and NSE conducted a special Muhurat trading session from 1800 hrs to 1900 hrs on Friday to mark the beginning of the new Samvat Year 2081.

Photographs: Sahil Salvi for Rediff.com

Benchmark Sensex rose by 335.06 points, or 0.42 per cent, to settle at 79,724.12 in a special Muhurat trading session on Friday, starting the new Samvat 2081 on a high note.

Stock exchanges BSE and NSE conducted a special Muhurat trading session from 1800 hrs to 1900 hrs on Friday to mark the beginning of the new Samvat Year 2081.

In the last Samvat 2080, which ended on Thursday, the BSE Sensex jumped 14,484.38 points, or 22.31 per cent, and the Nifty climbed 4,780 points, or 24.60 per cent.

Investors' wealth rose Rs 124.42 lakh crore during the period to Rs 4,44,71,429.92 crore ($5.29 trillion).

Muhurat trading is a one-hour symbolic trading session conducted by stock exchanges on the occasion of Diwali, marking the start of the new Samvat year and new books of accounts by traders.

On Friday, Sensex opened on a high note and stayed in positive territory throughout the special session on buying in banking, auto, and oil & gas shares.

The index moved between a high of 80,023.75 and a low of 79,655.55 during the session.

The 50-issue Nifty of NSE rose 99 points, or 0.41 per cent, to close at 24,304.35. As many as 42 Nifty stocks ended higher while eight shares closed with losses.

Among major Sensex gainers, Mahindra & Mahindra rose the most by 3.29 per cent.

Adani Ports gained 1.26 per cent, Tata Motors by 1.14 per cent, and Axis Bank by 0.92 per cent.

Nestle, NTPC, Reliance, ITC Titan, Kotak Bank, Infosys and TCS also gained.

HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, and ICICI Bank were the losers.

Broader markets also advanced with BSE Midcap rising 0.69 per cent, or 317.72 points, to 45,996.71.

The BSE SmallCap gained 1.16 per cent or 639.73 points to settle at 54,982.87.

BSE Auto (1.15 per cent), consumer discretionary (1.10 per cent), and oil & gas (0.91 per cent) were among the major sectoral gainers.

Meanwhile, global markets were mixed as European shares rose in early trade. Most Asian markets closed with losses.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 2.6 per cent, the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.2 per cent and South Korea's Kospi lost 0.5 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 0.9 per cent.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the Indian capital markets on Thursday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 5,813.30 crore, according to exchange data.