Maharashtra Civic Elections Cause Indian Stock Markets to Close
Mumbai, Jan 15: The Indian stock markets remain closed on Thursday due to municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra. The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE) have announced that there will be no trading in the equity segment, equity derivatives, commodity derivatives, and electronic gold receipts on this day.
In an earlier notification, the BSE stated that there will be no trading in the equity segment, equity derivatives, commodity derivatives, and electronic gold receipts on January 15. It also mentioned that equity derivative contracts originally scheduled to expire on January 15, 2026, will now expire a day earlier. These revisions will be reflected in the end-of-day contract master files.
Similarly, the NSE has declared January 15 as a trading holiday in both the capital market and futures and options segments. The decision follows the Maharashtra government’s declaration of a public holiday to ensure the smooth conduct of elections in 29 municipal corporations, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in Mumbai.
Trading on the NSE and BSE will resume on Friday. On the previous trading day, domestic stock markets ended lower after a highly volatile session. Losses in IT and realty stocks weighed on investor sentiment, and rising geopolitical tensions and uncertainty surrounding the US-India trade deal also capped any meaningful recovery during the day.
The Sensex slipped 0.29 percent, or 244.98 points, to close at 83,382.71, while the Nifty ended 0.26 percent, or 66.70 points, lower at 25,665.60. Broader markets performed better than the frontline indices, with the Nifty SmallCap 100 index rising 0.67 percent and the Nifty MidCap 100 index settling 0.29 percent higher. On the sectoral front, IT and realty stocks faced selling pressure, with the Nifty IT index falling 1.08 percent and the Nifty Realty index declining 0.92 percent.
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, according to analysts.
