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Diwali is one of the most popular festivals of India, marked by joy and fervour. Apart from the celebrations, this day has a special significance in the share market due to the 'Muhurat Trading' session that is held on the festival day every year.  

The new Samvat or Hindu New Year begins at the time of Diwali. During this time, many investors believe that trades made during Muhurat draw prosperity for the year ahead.

In view of these sentiments of the people, a special window of one hour is given for investing in the stock market on Diwali. In this special session, investors can easily invest in shares through their demat account.

In 2024, the Muhurat trading session will be held on the evening of November 1 and people will be able to invest in the stock market from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. However, trading in the market is closed during the day.

During the Muhurat trading session, normal trading takes place in all segments of the market and one can trade in derivatives along with equity.

Muhurat trading was first started on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in 1957. Muhurat trading on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) started in 1992.

Before the introduction of electronic demat accounts, traders used to participate in Muhurat trading on the exchanges.

If the history of the last 11 years of Muhurat Trading sessions is reviewed, the stock market has performed positively in 9 out of 11 sessions. Since 2018, the market has consistently given positive returns on the day of Muhurat Trading. Only in 2016 and 2017, it gave negative returns.

In last year's Muhurat Trading session, the Sensex rose 355 points, or 0.55 per cent, to 65,259 and the Nifty 50 index rose 100 points, or 0.52 per cent, to close at 19,525. During this period, midcap and smallcap stocks performed better, with the BSE Midcap index giving a return of 0.67 per cent and the BSE Smallcap index giving a return of 1.14 per cent.