Mahavir Jayanti Market Holiday: Domestic financial markets remained shut on Monday, April 6, for Mahavir Jayanti holiday, as India entered the thirteenth day of a 21-day nationwide lockdown to curb the rapid spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Trading in the equity, debt, forex and commodity markets will resume on Tuesday, April 7. This is a three-day trading week as the markets will also assume a holiday on April 10 for Good Friday. The spread of the deadly virus has battered the markets around the globe, as investors assess the effectiveness of policy measures against the outbreak.
Last Friday, equity markets fell 2 per cent as the S&P BSE Sensex index ended 674.36 points lower at 27,590.95 and the broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark settled at 8,083.80, down 170.00 points from the previous close - their seventh weekly decline in a row. The rupee declined by 53 paise to shut shop at 76.13 on the same day.
Last week, in an unprecedented move, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut market trading hours for both bonds and foreign exchange to four hours (10 am to 2:00 pm), citing possible operational and logistical risks arising from the nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Commodity exchanges have already down trading hours, in a shift from the practice of allowing trading till midnight. The trading now begins at 9 am and ends at 5 pm, instead of 11:50 pm earlier.
The country's equity, currency and commodity markets will also remain shut on April 14 for Ambedkar Jayanti.
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