Indian Markets Closed for Mahavir Jayanti; Commodity Trading Halted in Morning Session
MUMBAI — India’s benchmark stock exchanges, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE), remained closed Tuesday in observance of Mahavir Jayanti, a major religious festival celebrated by Jain communities.
Commodity markets also saw partial disruption. The Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) suspended trading during the morning session from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with trading set to resume in the evening session from 5 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. The National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), however, remained closed for the entire day.
Mahavir Jayanti marks the birth anniversary of Lord Mahavira, with this year commemorating his 2,624th birth anniversary.
The holiday comes at a time of heightened volatility in global markets, driven by geopolitical tensions and ongoing conflict in West Asia. Indian equities have also been under pressure in recent sessions, weighed down by sustained foreign institutional investor outflows, macroeconomic concerns, and weakness in the rupee.
Despite the holiday, early indicators pointed to a potential rebound. GIFT Nifty futures, often seen as a proxy for market sentiment, were trading about 1 percent higher, up roughly 250 points at 22,690 as of mid-morning.
Global markets showed mixed signals. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 closed down 0.39 percent, while the Nasdaq fell 0.73 percent. Asian markets were also in negative territory, with Japan’s Nikkei down 0.23 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipping 0.24 percent, and South Korea’s KOSPI dropping about 2 percent.
Oil prices declined sharply, with Brent crude futures falling 2.37 percent to $104.84 per barrel during intraday trading, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped about 2 percent to $100.83 per barrel.
Market participants are expected to closely monitor geopolitical developments and capital flows when trading resumes. (Source: IANS)
