India's benchmark BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indices closed higher on Sunday in the special one-hour Muhurat trading session held in Mumbai to mark Diwali and the start of Samvat 2083. Gains were broad but modest, led by banking, consumer and automobile stocks.

The National Stock Exchange and BSE opened their trading systems on a Sunday for the ritual session, which Indian investors regard as an auspicious moment to buy shares for the new Hindu financial year. Both exchanges had announced the special session in advance through circulars to brokers. Trading volumes were thin, as is customary, with many retail investors placing token purchases rather than large bets.

The Sensex and Nifty have closed higher in most Muhurat sessions over the past decade. Brokers in Mumbai said buying was concentrated in heavyweight lenders and consumer names expected to benefit from festive-season demand. Mid-cap and small-cap indices also edged up, reflecting continued strength in domestic retail participation through systematic investment plans.

The session closed a Samvat year in which foreign portfolio investors were frequent net sellers of Indian equities, according to data from National Securities Depository Limited. Domestic institutional investors, including mutual funds, absorbed much of that selling. Analysts at Indian brokerages said the direction of foreign flows and trade relations with the United States would shape market performance in the new Samvat year.

Regular trading on both exchanges resumes on Monday, when investors will turn back to the tail end of India's second-quarter earnings season. Fund managers in Mumbai said Muhurat moves carried more symbolic than predictive weight, and that sustained gains would depend on corporate earnings growth and global risk appetite.