Diwali 2021 Muhurat Trade: All you need to know about Samvat 2078, from stock picks to timing

The Muhurat trading session, which is held after Lakshmi Puja on Diwali day, will begin at 6.15 pm and end at 7.15 pm on November 4. Before the block deal session, Lakshmi Puja will take place from 4.45 pm. Diwali marks the beginning of the New Year, and investors participate in Muhurat trading to bring good luck and prosperity for the rest of the year.

Indian stock markets will open for one hour for Muhurat trading, which will commemorate the start of Samvat 2078. This in when traditional businesses open their books of account.

Today's timings — beyond the normal trading hours — have been fixed as per astrologically defined auspicious moments of the day. This token trading on the day of Diwali is believed to propitiate Goddess Lakshmi and bring good luck throughout the Samvat year, a calendar system used by the Hindu and Sikh communities in several parts of the Indian subcontinent.

From HDFC Securities, Geojit Financial Services, Motilal Oswal, Yes Securities, IDBI Capital and other analysts, there are over 60 stock recommendations for the token trading session.

Muhurat Trading has been practiced in India for about 50 years by the stock exchange. The first Muhurat Trading event was conducted in 1957 by the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Today, it has evolved into more of a symbolic than a traditional act because traders and brokers consider this period to be lucky for trading.

Meanwhile, the market saw profit booking on November 2 following positive global cues. The 50-scrip Nifty benchmark oscillated around the 18,000 mark. CNBC-TV18 Stocks Editor Anuj Singhal spoke to two Raamdeo Agrawal, Chairman and Co-Founder of Motilal Oswal Financial Services ahead of Samvat 2078.

Talking about retail participation in the market, Agrawal said: “This year has been a very defining year, in a way that apart from the general recovery and whatever has happened in the stock market, liquidity and interest rates, one of the most distinctive features maybe, because I belong to this particular community, is participation by retail (investors).”

“The number of account holders in 2007 was 10 million; the demat accounts were just about 10 million in 2007. It took five years to double to 20 million in 2012 and then in 2020, it became 40 (million). It took another eight years, so about nine percent compounded, and now in 2021, it became 55 million in the last 12 months," he added.

Samvat 2077 saw Nifty and Sensex hit lifetime highs, crossing 18,000 and 60,000 respectively for the first time in the history of Indian stock market. To start off Samvat 2078 with the same zeal, Yes Securities has recommended buying these stocks with the time frame of 12 months.

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