- Trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange remains suspended for the entire day
- The commodity market is closed for the morning session. It, however, is not fully shut
- Two market holidays in the same week create timing risk for investors
Stock Market Holiday: Indian stock markets are closed today (March 31) on account of Shri Mahavir Jayanti. Trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange remains suspended for the entire day. This makes Mahavir Jayanti the first of two market holidays scheduled this week, with another closure lined up on April 3 for Good Friday.
Meanwhile, the commodity market is closed for the morning session. The commodity segment, however, is not fully shut. At the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX), the morning session remains closed, but trading will resume in the evening session from 5 pm and continue till 11:30/11:55 pm, as per the exchange schedule.
This split session means bullion, crude, and metal traders will still have a window to react to global cues later in the day, unlike equity investors.
Why This Week Demands Caution
Two market holidays in the same week create timing risk for investors, particularly short-term traders and derivatives participants.
Any sharp movement in global markets on Tuesday or Friday will not immediately reflect in Indian equities. Instead, the reaction will be visible only when markets reopen, often leading to sharp gap-up or gap-down openings. In such situations, stop-losses may fail to trigger at intended levels, and investors get little room to rebalance positions.
With ongoing tensions in the Middle East, volatility in crude oil, and a packed US economic calendar, the gap between global developments and domestic market reaction becomes more pronounced this week.
Gold Edges Lower, Silver Gains
In the domestic market, gold futures ended marginally lower at Rs 1.44 lakh per 10 grams last week, while silver gained Rs 1,182, or 0.52 percentage, to close at Rs 2.27 lakh per kilogram on MCX.
Analysts attribute the support in domestic bullion prices largely to the rupee's weakness against the dollar, which fell over 1 percentage last week to close near 94.80. Globally, gold slipped nearly 2 percentage, while silver staged a recovery, supported by strong Chinese demand and safe-haven buying amid geopolitical uncertainty.
Stock Market On March 30
On Monday (March 30), Indian equity indices witnessed a sharp sell-off ahead of the holiday-shortened week. The BSE Sensex plunged 1,635.67 points, or 2.22 percentage, to close at 71,947.55. The Nifty 50 fell 488.20 points, or 2.14 percentage, to settle at 22,331.40, slipping below the 22,350 mark.
Broader markets were hit harder, with midcap and smallcap indices declining around 2.6 percentage each. All sectoral indices ended in the red, with auto, FMCG, consumer durables, capital goods, telecom, realty, and banking stocks falling between 2-4 percentage.
Among major losers were Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, State Bank of India, and InterGlobe Aviation, while Hindalco Industries, Coal India, ONGC, and Power Grid Corporation of India were among the few gainers.
