Market starts Samvat 2076 in green

MUMBAI: Samvat year 2076 started on a strong note with the sensex closing 192 points higher at 39,250 at the special hour-long trading session on Sunday evening. Infosys, HDFC Bank and Tata Motors were the three top contributors to the index’s rise. On the NSE, the Nifty too closed higher at 11,628 — up 44 points on the day.
Samvat, also called Vikram Samvat, is the year according to one of the Hindu calendars that is followed mainly by the Gujarati trading community that dominates Dalal Street.Every year, the BSE conducts a special trading session on the first day of the Samvat year, which also happens to be Diwali, and this session is called the Muhurat session.
Veterans of D-Street say that on this day, those who follow the Samvat year should always buy some shares, even if in small lots, and strictly not sell any. With most of the institutions closed for Diwali, usually sensex shows an uptick during the Muhurat trading session. In the last six years, on four such occasions, the sensex had closed higher. However, during Samvat years 2073 and 2074, it had closed with marginal losses (see graphic).

Before the Muhurat session, the traders also had a Lakshmi Puja at BSE’s convention hall and honoured the brokers who contributed the maximum turnover under various segments.
On Sunday, the sensex opened higher with a gap of nearly 350 points, remained steady during the session and closed in the green. Of the 30 sensex constituents, 22 closed higher. Brokers remain positive on the market as there is increasing interest among foreign investors to park funds in India.
Motilal Oswal, MD of MOFSL, one of the leading domestic financial services houses, said, “I see tremendous interest among the foreign investors…brand India is at an all-time high. The government is also pro-actively addressing many basic issues.” After the government decision in mid-September to cut corporate tax rates, expectation is high that there will be an individual income tax rate cut and also many more follow-up reforms moves, Oswal added.
In the shorter run, corporate earnings announcements, especially by the auto companies, will be in focus, a note by Geojit Securities said. On the international front, the market will look at a rate cut decision by the US Fed, the progress of the Brexit deal between EU and the UK, and the US-China tariff negotiations, brokers said.