Stock Market Holidays: Trading In BSE, NSE To Be Shut For Three Days From May 1-5; Is Market Open Today?

Indian stock market is up for three-day holidays in the first five days of May 2024. The month's first holiday is on May 1, when both trading in BSE and NSE coupled with settlement by CDSL and NSDL is closed due to the celebration of Maharashtra Din and May Day aka Labour Day. Accordingly, this trading week is holiday-shortened!

On Wednesday, trading in equity, equity derivatives, SLB, and currency derivative segments is closed due to Maharashtra Day and Labour Day. The next two holidays are on May 4th and 5th due to Saturday and Sunday. During the weekend, the stock market is closed by default.

Apart from this, in May month, there will also be a holiday on May 20th due to the General Elections (Lok Sabha).

In the previous session, the domestic benchmark indices closed on a negative note on Tuesday due to selling pressure from foreign investors, ahead of the FOMC meeting on Wednesday and the US non-farm payrolls report later this week. Sensex closed 232.07 points, or (0.31%) lower at 74,439.21, while Nifty ended 55.10 points, or (0.24%), lower at 22,588.30.

According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, globally, markets remained mixed ahead of US FED policy meet, as markets appear to have already factored in the slim chance of a near-term rate cut. Profit booking ensued towards a close given the sharp rally in the last couple of days and a holiday-led truncated week. Domestic initial Q4 corporate earnings forecasts were conservative; however, Nifty50 companies' earnings till date have remained marginally better, with the exception being the IT sector, while auto and realty continue to be robust.

For Thursday, when market opens, Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said, "Nifty after recording a fresh high of 22783 levels, witnessed profit booking at higher zone. The index closed with a loss of 39 points at 22605 levels. Volatility index continued to rise amid the Nifty Bank monthly FNO expiry and the US Fed meeting outcome.."

He added, "The majority of the sectors ended in red. Auto and Realty were top gainers today up more than 1% each. The auto index hit an all-time high of 22,634 and gained momentum on the expectation of strong April Volume data. Nifty Bank too touched a lifetime high. Markets will remain shut on Wednesday on the occasion of Labour Day. On Thursday, markets would react to the US Fed policy decision and US Consumer confidence data. Investors look ahead to the US Federal Reserve's outlook on rate cuts. Overall we expect the market to continue its positive momentum supported by healthy DIIs & retail buying and going Q4 result season."

Meanwhile, Ajit Mishra - SVP, Research, Religare Broking said, "We view the intermediate profit-taking in the index as a healthy correction and anticipate Nifty to maintain support around the 22,300-22,400 zone. Most key sectors, except IT, are participating in the movement, so participants should adjust their positions accordingly."