The Indian stock market will remain closed for 12 days in March. This includes three public holidays and regular weekend closures on Saturdays and Sundays.
According to the holiday calendar released by the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), the bourse will remain closed on account of festive holidays for Holi, Ram Navami and Mahavir Jayanti in March. Trading activities on the BSE will also remain suspended on these days due to public holidays.
Trading in equity derivatives, securities lending and borrowing (SLB), currency derivatives and electronic gold receipts (EGR) will remain suspended on these days.
Stock Market Holidays In 2026
The stock market holiday calendar for 2026 includes a total of 16 trading holidays, excluding Saturdays and Sundays, as per the NSE. Following two holidays in January, here is the full list of upcoming market holidays for this year:
- March 3: Holi (Tuesday)
- March 26: Shri Ram Navami (Thursday)
- March 31: Shri Mahavir Jayanti (Tuesday)
- April 3: Good Friday (Friday)
- April 14: Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Jayanti (Tuesday)
- May 1: Maharashtra Day (Friday)
- May 28: Bakri Id (Thursday)
- June 26: Muharram (Friday)
- Sept. 14: Ganesh Chaturthi (Monday)
- Oct. 2: Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti (Friday)
- Oct. 20: Dussehra (Tuesday)
- Nov. 10: Diwali-Balipratipada (Tuesday)
- Nov. 24: Prakash Gurpurb Sri Guru Nanak Dev (Tuesday)
- Dec. 25: Christmas (Friday)
Stock markets will remain open for a special session on Nov. 8, though it falls on a Sunday. A special 'Muhurat Trading' session will be held to mark Diwali Laxmi Pujan. Timings for the Muhurat trading session will be notified by the BSE and NSE separately ahead of Diwali.
Regular Stock Market Operations
Trading on the equities segment happens on all days of the week (other than Saturdays and Sundays and holidays declared by the Exchange in advance). Market timings of the equities segment are given below:
A) Pre-open session
Order entry and modification Open: 9:00 a.m.
Order entry and modification Close: 9:08 a.m.
[With random closure in the last one minute. Pre-open order matching starts immediately after the close of pre-open order entry.]
B) Regular trading session
Normal / Limited Physical Market Open: 9:15 a.m.
Normal / Limited Physical Market Close: 3:30 p.m.
C) Closing Session
The Closing Session is held between 3:40 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.
D) Block Deal Session Timings
Morning Window: This window shall operate between 8:45 a.m. and 9 a.m.
Afternoon Window: This window shall operate between 2:05 p.m. and 2:20 p.m.
The Exchange may, however, close the market on days other than the above-scheduled holidays or may open the market on days originally declared as holidays. The Exchange may also extend, advance, or reduce trading hours when it deems fit and necessary.
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