(Bloomberg) -- Indian shares rose in a ceremonial late-evening session to mark Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, boosted by gains in US stocks.
The NSE Nifty 50 index climbed 0.4% in the hour-long session, with heavyweights Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd. and Axis Bank Ltd. contributing the most to the advance. US stocks rose after October non-farm payrolls boosted prospects of more interest-rate cuts in the world’s biggest economy.
The gains in Indian stocks were in keeping with history as indexes have advanced in eight out of the past 10 Diwali-day sessions, known as Muhurat trading, and have risen 24% since the last celebration. The broader market has also rallied, outpacing the gains for the benchmark, amid strong inflows into the country’s mutual funds and buying by small investors.
Indian equities have, however, stuttered last month amid heavy selling from foreign portfolio investors, who have pulled $10 billion on signs of cooling economic growth and a rotation toward Chinese stocks. The MSCI India index snapped a record 11-month winning streak, while mid-caps briefly entered correction territory.
Still, local equities remain on pace for their ninth annual gain, boosted by more than $50 billion in buying by domestic institutions in 2024. Meanwhile, retail investors have purchased stocks worth more than $13 billion this year through September, according to the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.
Indian stocks are set to continue to trend upward, with the Nifty 50 poised to reach 28,400 by Diwali in 2025, according to Bajaj Financial Securities Ltd. The index closed at 24,304.35 on Friday.
“The ‘buy on dips’ strategy has proven effective in the Indian market over the past few years and we recommend continuing the same,” the brokerage firm said in a note.
The BSE Sensex index also advanced 0.4% on Friday. Small- and mid-cap stocks outperformed the large-caps in the special session, with the Nifty Smallcap 250 index gaining 1.1%.
Determined by the new moon, the truncated session is deemed the most auspicious time on the Hindu calendar to start investments and to put aside any losses from the past year. Regular trading resumes on Monday.
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