The festivities are over, but Dalal Street has held on to its cheer. The BSE Sensex gained 0.73% in the week after Muhurat trading on 8 November, adding to its strongest pre-Diwali weekly rally in three decades.
The 8.78% surge before Muhurat was the biggest, according to a Mint analysis of Bloomberg data from 1997 to 2026, well above the previous high of 5.4% in 2002. After such a sharp rise, the question is how much further the market can go.
History offers some pointers. The Sensex rose in the week after Muhurat in 19 of the 29 years through 2025, or almost two-thirds of the time. But gains before the festival have not always lasted and analysts say festive sentiment alone cannot sustain this year’s rally.
Rajesh Singla, CEO and fund manager at Alpha AMC, attributed the pre-Muhurat surge to renewed foreign buying, falling crude prices and short covering as traders unwound bets on further declines.
“For it to last, foreign buying must continue in cash equities, crude must stay contained, and Q2 earnings must justify current valuations,” Singla said.