Markets get off to a sparkling start

Mumbai: 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 6pm to 7pm 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 Rs124.42 lakh crore during the period to Rs4,44,71,429.92 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.