Indian equity benchmarks, NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex, ended marginally lower during the special Muhurat Trading 2026 session on Sunday, November 8, held on the occasion of Diwali Laxmi Pujan.

The 30-share Sensex pack declined 28.62 points or 0.04 per cent to settle at 80,999.40, while the Nifty index shed 43.95 points or 0.18 per cent to close at 24,986.40.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Tata Steel Ltd, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC), Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd (TMPV) and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd emerged as the top gainers on Nifty, rising up to 2.96 per cent.

On the other hand, SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd, InterGlobe Aviation Ltd (IndiGo's parent), Bharti Airtel Ltd, Max Healthcare Institute Ltd and Infosys Ltd were among the top laggards, declining up to 1.11 per cent.

The 70-minute special trading session was scheduled between 2:20 pm and 3:30 pm. Muhurat Trading is held annually on Diwali and coincides with Lakshmi Puja. Considered auspicious by investors and traders, the session marks the beginning of Vikram Samvat, the Hindu calendar year followed by the trading community.

Sanjay Sinha, founder of Citrus Advisors, sees opportunities in sectors such as engineering and capital goods, citing a pickup in private sector capital expenditure (capex).

"There is another sector that has not received as much attention from the market but may do so going forward, and that is telecom. Tariff revision is now long overdue. Any tariff increase is directly going to flow to the bottom line. Over the next 12 months, this sector may attract attention and could be among the outperforming sectors," he told Business Today.

On the technical outlook for Nifty, Ajit Mishra, SVP (Research) at Religare Broking, said, "The sharp weekly rally has significantly improved the near-term setup, with the index reclaiming the 25,000-mark. Going ahead, the sustainability of this up move will be crucial in determining whether the recent recovery can develop into a broader and more durable uptrend. We expect the 24,200–24,500 zone to act as an important support base, while the index could extend its up move towards 25,200–25,600 in the coming sessions."

Domestic equity markets will remain open for regular trading on Monday, November 9, following the special Muhurat Trading session on Sunday. However, the stock exchanges will remain closed on Tuesday, November 10, on account of Diwali Balipratipada.

Apart from the November 10 holiday, markets will observe two more trading holidays this calendar year. The first will be on November 24 on account of Prakash Gurpurb Sri Guru Nanak Dev, followed by Christmas on December 25.