Stock market holiday declared today as Mumbai votes in Lok Sabha elections

Lok Sabha elections: The BSE and the National Stock Exchange will remain closed on Monday, May 20, as a public holiday has been declared in Mumbai for polling

Stock market exchanges BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) will remain closed on Monday, May 20, due to the Lok Sabha elections in India.

Mumbai, among the regions voting in the fifth phase today, has declared a public holiday for this purpose. Trading will resume on Tuesday, May 21.

Both the BSE and NSE are headquartered in Mumbai. The Indian stock market's trading hours are from 9:15 am to 3:30 pm from Monday to Friday.

Which states will go to the polls in phase 5?

Forty-nine constituencies in eight states and union territories (UTs) are up for polls in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections. Besides parts of Maharashtra, certain Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and the UTs of Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh are voting today.

 

Several key candidates, including Union Ministers Smriti Irani, Piyush Goyal, and Rajnath Singh, along with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Chirag Paswan, are among nearly 700 contestants entering the poll battle today.

When is the next trading holiday?

Today's holiday marks the second holiday for the stock exchanges this month. Earlier, a trading holiday was declared on May 1 to commemorate Maharashtra Day, celebrating the formation of the state of Maharashtra from the division of the Bombay State on May 1, 1960.

According to the official calendar of the BSE, the next trading holiday will be observed on June 17 to mark Bakr Eid.

May 18 special trading session

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty were little changed in the last session conducted on Saturday, a special trading session meant to test the exchanges' preparedness during emergencies.

Two special sessions were organised from 9:15 am to 10 am from a primary site, and then from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm from a disaster recovery site.

Nifty 50 rose 0.16 per cent to 22,502 points, and the S&P BSE Sensex added 0.12 per cent to end at 74,005 points.

"Markets are taking a cautious stance and the situation may remain challenging till national election results are out on June 4," said Ajit Mishra, vice president of research at Religare Broking.