The Sensex and Nifty ended the Diwali Muhurat session in the red. It is the first red Muhurat close in nine years. Small companies still rose, and the week’s big gains stayed mostly intact.
Updated: 9 November 2026, 10:30 AM IST
Quick Read
- Sensex fell 28.62 points to 80,999.40 and Nifty fell 43.95 points to 24,986.40 in the Muhurat session on Sunday, 8 November.
- It is the first red Muhurat close since 2017, and it ended a seven-session winning run.
- Small caps still rose — Nifty Smallcap 100 gained 1.01% — and 2,716 stocks advanced against 736 that fell.
The session started well. The Sensex opened at 81,299.34 and touched an intraday high of 81,442.11, per Fortune India. The Nifty opened at 25,070.45 and touched 25,131.85. Then sellers took over late in the one-hour session. Both indices closed near the day’s lows. The Sensex slipped to 80,932.42 before settling at 80,999.40. The Nifty settled at 24,986.40, down 0.18%.
What is Muhurat trading?
Muhurat trading is a special, short stock market session held every year on Diwali. It marks the start of the new Hindu calendar year, called Samvat. This year it marked the start of Samvat 2083. Traders treat it as an auspicious start to the year, and many buy a small amount of shares as a token of good luck.
The Bombay Stock Exchange started the tradition in 1957, and the National Stock Exchange joined in 1992. This year the session ran from 2:20 pm to 3:30 pm on Sunday, 8 November — in the afternoon for the first time. The commodity exchange MCX ran the same window.
The week before was the best in six years
Sunday’s small fall needs context. The week before it, the Sensex gained 8.82% and the Nifty gained 8.58% — the best weekly gains since February 2021, about six years. On Friday alone, the Sensex jumped 1,718.01 points to close at 81,028.02, and the Nifty rose 493.75 points to 25,030.35. That was the seventh straight winning session.
Put the two together and Sunday looks small: the week’s gain was about 220 times the size of Sunday’s slip in percentage terms. One hour of mild selling did not undo five days of strong buying.
Also read: Sensex +8.8% in a week, rupee at 93.91
Small caps did not follow the big indices
The broader market did better. The Nifty Midcap 100 rose 0.13%, the Smallcap 100 advanced 1.01% and the Microcap 250 ended 1.46% higher. Of the 3,550 stocks traded, 2,716 advanced, 736 declined and 98 stayed unchanged.
Sun Pharma led the Nifty gainers, up 2.96%, followed by Tata Steel, up 1.88%. The losers were SBI Life, IndiGo and Bharti Airtel, each down over 1%. Divi’s Labs jumped 7% to a fresh 52-week high.
Muhurat closes: our own count
| Muhurat session | Sensex | Nifty |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Down 0.59% | Down 0.63% |
| 2018–2025 | Up, eight sessions in a row | Up, eight sessions in a row |
| 2025 (21 Oct) | Up 0.07% | Up 0.10% |
| 2026 (8 Nov) | Down 0.04% to 80,999.40 | Down 0.18% to 24,986.40 |
This table is our own count, put together from NDTV Profit and the Economic Times. The last red Muhurat close before this one was 19 October 2017. In the past ten Muhurat sessions, the benchmarks have now closed red twice.
Gold, silver and what’s next
Gold and silver ended almost flat. Reports differ slightly: Business Standard puts MCX December gold down 0.02% near Rs 1.42 lakh per 10 grams, while NDTV Profit reports it up 0.27% to Rs 1,42,552. Both agree on the levels — gold near Rs 1.42 lakh, silver near Rs 1.85 lakh — and that the move was tiny. Gold had traded 1.2% higher during the session, per ET Now, before giving back the gain. Crude oil was the real mover on MCX, up 1.13% to Rs 8,555 a barrel.
Monday morning gave mixed signals. GIFT Nifty traded between about 25,045 and 25,089 in the early hours, up 55 to 108 points from Sunday’s close, per Moneycontrol and News18. Brent crude eased to about $97 a barrel. But by the open, the market had already given back the early gain and slipped into the red again.
Also read: Gold ₹1,46,180 for 10g in Delhi this Dhanteras
Markets are closed on Tuesday, 10 November, for Diwali-Balipratipada. And Samvat 2082, the year that just ended, was a weak one: the Sensex fell 3,398.32 points, or 4%, and the Nifty fell 838.25 points, or 3.24%, over the year. Samvat 2083 has started on a quiet note.
Also read
FAQ
Q: What is Muhurat trading?
A: It is a special one-hour session held every Diwali to mark the start of the new Hindu calendar year, Samvat. The BSE started it in 1957 and the NSE joined in 1992.
Q: When was the last red Muhurat close before 2026?
A: 19 October 2017, when the Sensex fell 0.59% and the Nifty fell 0.63%. The benchmarks then closed higher in eight straight Muhurat sessions from 2018 to 2025.
Q: Are markets open on Tuesday, 10 November?
A: No. The markets are closed on Tuesday, 10 November, for Diwali-Balipratipada, per the NSE holiday calendar. Regular trading resumes on Wednesday.
Sources
- Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) — exchange, the primary source for Sensex levels
- Fortune India — Muhurat Trading 2026: Sensex ends flat, Nifty below 25,000 (8 Nov 2026; intraday high/low, sector moves)
- Economic Times — Sensex, Nifty end Muhurat Trading session in red for first time in 9 years (8 Nov 2026)
- NDTV Profit — Rare Diwali dip: Sensex, Nifty close lower in Muhurat trading for first time in nine years (8 Nov 2026)
- Moneycontrol — GIFT Nifty up 55 pts, signals firm start (9 Nov 2026)
- Business Standard — Samvat 2083 off to a tepid start; Sensex, Nifty slip, smaller cos up (8 Nov 2026; gold/silver settled levels)
Sasanka Sekhar Pradhan is the founder of India Presents, an India-focused news site. He covers daily box-office trackers, India news, economy explainers, sports previews and festival guides — in simple English, so readers across India can follow fast-moving stories without jargon. His focus is what a story means for the reader: the number that matters, the source behind it, and what happens next. India Presents publishes daily, with day-trackers updated as new figures come in.
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