Muhurat Trading 2026: The Diwali Session, Explained
One short trading session on Diwali afternoon, with real trades and real settlement. Here are the timings, what happens to your orders, what it means for mutual funds, and where the tradition comes from.
CoinWhisperer6 November 2026 · 6 min readIndian stock markets are shut on weekends and festivals, with one exception every year. On Diwali, the exchanges open for a single short session called Muhurat trading. It is a real session: orders match, trades settle, and money moves. It is also a ritual, a symbolic first trade of the new financial year for a large part of India’s trading community.
1. Date and time for 2026
Muhurat trading this year is on Sunday, 8 November 2026, the day of Diwali Lakshmi Puja. The live session runs in the afternoon, from 2:20 PM to 3:30 PM IST for stocks, with a short pre-open auction before it. These times are from NSE’s official circulars for the cash and F&O segments.
| Session | Time (IST) |
|---|---|
| Block deal window | 1:50 – 2:05 PM |
| Pre-open (order entry, then matching) | 2:05 – 2:20 PM |
| Normal market, equity cash | 2:20 – 3:30 PM |
| Closing auction (CAS stocks) | Normal market to 3:15 PM, auction 3:20 – 3:30 PM |
| Normal market, futures & options | 2:20 – 3:40 PM |
| Post-close session | 3:50 – 4:00 PM |
A few details sit inside that schedule. In the pre-open, both limit and market orders can be placed until 2:10 PM, and only limit orders after that, with the window closing at a random moment in the last two minutes so it can’t be timed. Stocks covered by the closing auction stop continuous trading at 3:15 PM and then go through a short auction to set their closing price (we explained how that works here). Any IPO or relisted stock in its first session goes through its own special pre-open from 2:05 to 2:50 PM.
For years the session was held in the evening. In 2025 it moved to the afternoon, and 2026 keeps it there. BSE publishes its own notice; check your broker app for the exact times on BSE-only stocks.
2. What happens to orders placed in the window
Short version: they are treated exactly like orders on any normal trading day. NSE’s circular says it plainly: all trades executed in this session shall result in settlement obligations. This is not a demo or a token session.
- Delivery buys and sells settle T+1. The next working day is Monday, 9 November, and that is the settlement date NSE Clearing has set. If you buy shares on Sunday, the money is debited and the shares reach your demat on Monday. If you sell, the proceeds arrive on Monday.
- Intraday positions are squared off the same day. Your broker closes any open intraday trades before the session ends, usually a few minutes before 3:30 PM. The exact cut-off is set by each broker, so check it in your app.
- Unfilled orders lapse. A normal day order that hasn’t been filled by the close is cancelled when the session ends. It does not carry over to Monday.
- Prices are live. Circuit limits apply as usual, and your trade is at the price the market gives you in that hour, not a special Diwali price.
Because Monday has to settle Friday’s trades and Sunday’s trades together, the clearing house runs several settlements that day. You don’t need to do anything about it; it just explains why Monday looks busy in your ledger.
3. Is there a mutual fund NAV on Muhurat day?
No. Muhurat trading is a stock exchange session, and mutual funds don’t take part in it the way you might expect. Funds work on business days, and a Sunday isn’t one. There is no NAV for 8 November, and no special Diwali NAV.
- A purchase, redemption or switch you place on Sunday is processed on the next business day, Monday 9 November. You get Monday’s NAV, provided Monday’s cut-off time is met and, for purchases, the money has reached the fund by then.
- A SIP dated the 8th is processed on the next business day in the same way.
- Watch the next holiday too. Markets are closed on Tuesday, 10 November, for Diwali Balipratipada, so a request that misses Monday’s cut-off rolls on to Wednesday.
Your fund’s Monday NAV is calculated from Monday’s closing prices, so any movement during the Muhurat session is already reflected in those prices by then. The session doesn’t create a separate price for fund investors.
4. Restrictions and things to know
- It is short. About 70 minutes of continuous trading. Prices can move quickly, and some stocks trade very little.
- Liquidity is thinner. Fewer participants means wider gaps between buy and sell prices, especially in smaller stocks. Limit orders give you control over the price you get.
- Market orders have limits in the pre-open. After 2:10 PM, only limit orders can be placed, changed or cancelled until the pre-open closes.
- Margins and rules don’t change. Margin requirements, circuit limits and position limits are the same as on a normal day.
- Brokers set their own conditions. Intraday square-off times, after-market order handling and order types can differ between brokers on this day. Check your app’s notice before the session.
- Your obligations are real. A trade on Sunday creates the same pay-in and delivery obligations as any weekday trade, settled on Monday.
5. Why is it considered auspicious?
A muhurat is an auspicious moment, chosen because the planetary positions are considered favourable for starting something new. For many Indian business communities, Diwali marks the start of a new financial year, and the evening of Lakshmi Puja, the worship of the goddess of wealth, is the natural time to begin it.
The tradition is older than the stock exchanges. Trading families, especially Gujarati and Marwari merchants, traditionally closed their old account books at Diwali and opened new ones with a ceremony called Chopda Pujan, worship of the books of account. The first entry in the new books was meant to set the tone for the year. Many families still follow the Hindu calendar year, the Vikram Samvat, which begins around Diwali; this Diwali starts Samvat 2083.
The stock market simply carried the custom over. The Bombay Stock Exchange began holding a Diwali session in 1957, and NSE followed in 1992. For many investors the session is a token gesture: a small purchase, often of a stock they intend to hold, as the first trade of the year.
It is worth keeping the two things separate. The tradition is about intention and a fresh start. How the market moves in one short, thinly traded hour says very little about how the year will go, and the session is no better or worse a time to trade than any other.
Educational explainer, not investment advice. Timings are from NSE’s circulars for Muhurat trading 2026 and NSE Clearing’s settlement schedule; brokers and fund houses may apply their own cut-offs, so check their notices before the session.