Dalal Street opened the books on Samvat 2083 with a sudden bout of late-session selling. The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 28.62 points, or 0.04%, to settle at 80,999.40 during Sunday's special one-hour Muhurat trading window. Across the floor, the NSE Nifty fell 43.95 points, or 0.18%, to finish at 24,986.40.
Both benchmarks opened on the front foot before institutional desks locked in rapid profits. The Sensex had jumped as much as 414.09 points to touch an intraday peak of 81,442.11, while the Nifty climbed to 25,132 before surrendering the psychological 25,000 mark. The reversal halted a seven-session advance and broke an eight-year sequence of festive Muhurat gains.
| Index / Metric | Session Close | Intraday High | Net Change | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BSE Sensex | 80,999.40 | 81,442.11 | -28.62 | -0.04% |
| NSE Nifty | 24,986.40 | 25,132.00 | -43.95 | -0.18% |
| BSE SmallCap Select | — | — | — | +1.18% |
| BSE MidCap Select | — | — | — | +0.22% |
| BSE Market Cap | ₹505.67 Lakh Cr | — | +₹2.60 Lakh Cr | — |
Yet the tape told a two-track story.
Even as headline gauges wilted, broader market participation remained buoyant. Investors added ₹2.60 lakh crore to their portfolios during the single hour of trade, lifting the overall market capitalization of BSE-listed firms to ₹5,05,67,743.40 crore—roughly $5.37 trillion. The BSE SmallCap Select index advanced 1.18%, while the MidCap Select index picked up 0.22%. Sectoral lines cracked unevenly: realty, banking counters, and IT shares succumbed to distribution, while healthcare, industrials, capital goods, and housing finance outfits accumulated fresh capital.
Liquidity shifted swiftly away from frontline heavyweights. Mahindra & Mahindra, InterGlobe Aviation, Trent, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, and Axis Bank led the decliners on the Sensex, where 14 stocks finished in the red against 16 advancing counters. Buying interest stayed confined to pockets of manufacturing and defensive plays, propping up Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, and Power Grid.
Positioning had grown stretched after an aggressive weekly run. Across the prior seven sessions, the Sensex had accumulated 7,781.99 points, or 10.62%, while the Nifty pocketed 2,331.5 points, or 10.27%—marking their steepest weekly surge since February 2021. Foreign Institutional Investors had injected ₹13,749.82 crore on Friday alone as the market capped Samvat 2082, during which the Sensex contracted 4% and the Nifty surrendered 3.24%.
"After two years of stagnation, market has the potential to give investors bumper returns by next Diwali, because of confluence of low valuation and high earnings growth," said Raamdeo Agrawal, chairman and co-founder of Motilal Oswal Financial Services. "Potential crash in oil prices, stable currency, return of foreign investors, moderation of AI hype and broad-based earnings growth will support higher valuation multiples."
Regular trading resumes on Monday, when market participants will test whether institutional desks extend Friday's ₹13,749-crore buying program or continue dialing back risk around the 25,000 Nifty threshold.