Stock markets shut for Dussehra after Monday sell-off; Jio IPO opens Wednesday

India’s stock exchanges are shut on Tuesday, 20 October, for Dussehra, giving investors a one-day pause after a sharp sell-off on Monday and just ahead of a week dominated by bank earnings and the opening of the country’s largest-ever initial public offering.

Dussehra, or Vijayadashami, is listed as a trading holiday in the 2026 calendars of both the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and BSE. Regular trading will resume on Wednesday, 21 October.

What is closed, and what is not

According to NSE’s holiday list, there is no trading today in the cash equity market, equity futures and options, currency derivatives or the securities lending and borrowing segment. Commodity derivatives are only partly affected: the morning session is closed but the evening session will run as usual. Mint reported that the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) is following the same pattern, staying shut in the morning and reopening for evening trade.

Monday’s slide

The holiday comes after benchmark indices ended a two-day winning run on Monday, 19 October. The Sensex shed 876.37 points, or 1.17%, to finish at 73,852.90, having fallen more than 1,000 points at its intraday low, while the Nifty 50 lost 257.20 points, or 1.11%, to close at 22,888.95, below the closely watched 23,000 level, according to India Today and Mint.

Private lenders led the decline after their September-quarter numbers disappointed. India Today reported that Axis Bank slid 4.15% after its standalone profit of ₹7,003 crore came in a little below analyst estimates, while HDFC Bank lost 2.72% despite a 4.7% rise in profit to ₹19,510 crore, as its net interest margin narrowed to 3.16% and costs and provisions rose. IT shares gave back part of their recent gains, and 15 of 16 major sectoral indices finished in the red.

State-run banks were the exception. The Nifty PSU Bank index rose 2.46%, helped by Punjab National Bank and Union Bank of India, both of which reported better margins or asset quality. Mid- and small-cap indices fell about 1% each, and the India VIX volatility gauge climbed 4.48% to 14.69. Elevated crude prices, with Brent above $108 a barrel, added to the caution, Geojit Investments’ head of research Vinod Nair told India Today.

The week ahead: Jio IPO and Muhurat trading

When markets reopen on Wednesday, attention will turn to Jio Platforms, the Reliance Industries-backed telecom and digital business, whose IPO opens for subscription that day and closes on Friday, 23 October. The Hindu reported that the company aims to raise about ₹30,213 crore through a fresh issue at ₹1,065–1,119 per share, valuing it at roughly $108 billion. It has already placed ₹8,109.85 crore of shares with 212 anchor investors, after bids topped ₹2.5 lakh crore. Some outlets, including Moneycontrol, put the issue size slightly lower at about ₹30,188 crore.

Further ahead, NSE and BSE will hold the customary Diwali Muhurat trading session on Sunday, 8 November, Laxmi Pujan day. Business Standard, citing exchange circulars, said continuous trading will run from 2:20 pm to 3:30 pm, after a pre-open window from 2:05 pm, with equity, derivatives, currency, commodity and SLB segments all available.

The remaining full trading holidays this year, as per the NSE calendar, are Tuesday, 10 November (Diwali Balipratipada), Tuesday, 24 November (Guru Nanak Jayanti) and Friday, 25 December (Christmas).

Sources: NSE India, India Today, Mint (via TradingView), Business Standard, The Hindu, Moneycontrol