Upcoming Stock Market Holidays: Will BSE, NSE Be Closed On Jan 15 For BMC Elections?

The Maharashtra government has announced a public holiday in the state on Thursday, Jan. 15, due to local body elections. This holiday applies to 29 municipal corporations, including Mumbai City and Mumbai Suburban districts under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

Mumbai is the heart of India's financial sector, housing the main stock exchanges — National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. and BSE Ltd. The headquarters of prominent domestic and multinational banks, and trading companies are also situated in the city, so is the head office of the Reserve Bank of India.

There is no official circular yet from either NSE or BSE on whether the equity markets will be open or closed. The RBI is also yet to issue any notice regarding bank closures on Jan. 15.

Typically, RBI-administered markets, including government bonds, call, triparty repo, and foreign exchange markets, are shut on holidays declared by the Maharashtra government under the Negotiable Instruments Act.

In the annual holiday calendar, Jan. 15 is not mentioned as a stock market holiday. Similarly, on commodity bourse MCX, Jan. 15 is not a trading holiday. The next stock market holiday is Republic Day, Jan 26, which falls on Monday.

Notably, the BSE and NSE had announced a trading holiday for the currency derivatives segment and settlement holiday for equity market on Feb. 21, 2017, when BMC elections were last held.

On a settlement holiday, the stock market remains open for equity trading, but the crucial process of clearing and settling trades i.e. transferring shares and funds between buyers and sellers is paused, usually because banks or depositories are closed. The delivery of shares to the demat account or the credit of funds to the bank account is delayed until the next business day.

Both exchanges will have to issue a circular to intimate market participants about such decisions.

Jan. 15 also happens to be the Sensex weekly F&O expiry day.