Stock Market Holiday 2026: Is Trading On BSE, NSE Closed Or Open On January 15 For BMC Election?

Trading on BSE and NSE in market-related instruments will not be open on January 15, as both exchanges have declared a stock market holiday. The reason behind is Maharashtra's BMC election whose poll will begin on Thursday. Both BSE and NSE are headquartered in Mumbai and hence they are following the state holiday for voting. The state will hold elections for at least 29 municipal corporations.

Stock Market Holiday On January 15:

In general terms, BSE and NSE follow national holidays, along with holidays for major festivals like Diwali and Christmas, and they also declare certain special holidays due to major events on state and local level. BMC Elections fall under the state holiday.

Both BSE and NSE have accordingly declared a trading holiday on January 15. This means that on Thursday, investors will not be able to buy or sell in equities, equity derivatives, bonds, derivatives, IPOs, commodities, or forex currencies among other market-related instruments.

Mutual funds market will also be closed accordingly. As per the notification by Zerodha, Thursday, January 15, 2026, will be a non-business day for mutual funds on account of municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra. Purchase and redemption Orders placed after cut-off time on 14th January 2026 will be processed on 16th January 2026.

Furthermore, January 15 is also a settlement holiday. This means your transactions on January 14 in market investment themes, will be settled by January 16 by NSDL and CDSL.

Sensex Expiry Date Changed:

Due to market holiday on January 15, Sensex's expiry date for F&O traders moved to January 14, 2026. Typically, the Sensex weekly expiry is scheduled on a Thursday. However, with the market now closing on that day, the expiry was pre-poned.

Market will resume its trading as normal on January 16.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Election 2026:

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation election, 2026 is an election of members to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation which governs Greater Mumbai, the 2nd largest metropolis in India. The election will take place on 15 January, 2026 and the counting will take place on 16 January, 2026.

The BMC election this year will be held from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm across all 227 wards of Mumbai. From this total, about 114 seats are reserved for women.

Sensex, Nifty Performance On January 14:

Indian stock market closed lower on January 14, ahead of the local election. After closing bell, Sensex closed at 83,382.71, down by 244.98 points or 0.29%. While Nifty 50 plunged by 66.70 points or 0.26% to end at 25,665.60.

What impacted market? As per Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, domestic markets remained cautious amid lingering uncertainty over the India-US trade deal, with FIIs staying risk-averse. However, the restart of negotiations this week has instilled renewed hopes. Metals led the rally as prices climbed on expectations of U.S. rate cuts, supported by softer inflation data and safe-haven demand amid geopolitical tensions.

The Geojit expert further said, broader markets performed well given selective buying in mid- and small-cap segments. Globally, equities traded mixed as investors awaited the U.S. December PPI and major bank earnings. Looking ahead, focus will shift to Q3 FY26 earnings, where initial IT results were broadly in line with expectations, though bottom-line performance was impacted by one-off costs.

Stock Market Outlook:

As per Ajit Mishra - SVP, Research, Religare Broking, market sentiment continued to be influenced by persistent foreign institutional selling and heightened geopolitical and trade-related uncertainties, which kept overall risk appetite subdued. Although there was some early optimism around key support levels and progress in trade discussions, the absence of sustained follow-through and broader macro uncertainty led to a cautious, stock-specific trading environment.

Technically, he added, bulls are making an effort to defend the medium-term support of the 100-day EMA around the 25,600 level on the Nifty. While the index remains range-bound, there are selective buying opportunities emerging across sectors. Participants are advised to align positions accordingly, while keeping position sizes in check given the prevailing mixed global cues and elevated geopolitical risks.

Trading Setup For Sensex, Nifty On January 16:

"We are of the view that the intraday market texture is non-directional; perhaps traders are waiting for either side to breakout. On the higher side, above 25,800/83800, the market could move up to 25,880-25,900/84000-84200. On the flip side, below 25,600/83200, selling pressure is likely to accelerate. If it falls below this level, it could retest the levels of 25,500-25,450/83000-82800," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities.

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