Financial markets to remain shut for Ram Navami today

Markets have a total of 14 holidays in the calendar year 2024.

For the rest of 2024, markets will be shut for Maharashtra Day (May 1), Bakri Id (June 17), Muharram (July 17), Independence Day (August 15), Mahatma Gandhi (October 2), Diwali (November 1), Gurunanak Jayanti (November 15) and Christmas (December 25).

A special muhurat trading will be held on November 01 for Diwali. The exchanges may alter any of the above holidays, for which a separate circular will be issued in advance.

Equity indices continued to slump for the past three days dragged down by heavy selling amid weak global trends and fears of escalating tensions in the Middle East. Outflow of foreign fund also dented investors' sentiment.

Analysts said a drop in the probability of a rate cut in the short-term also added to the selling pressure.

Heightened concerns arose following stronger-than-anticipated US retail sales, amplifying the assumption that the US Federal Reserve might delay rate cuts, leading to a notable uptick in the dollar index and US bond yields.

"The IT sector saw the most significant decline, primarily due to expectations of earnings being affected by the weak discretionary spending in the US and muted domestic Q4 results," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Technically, the trend has weakened as fell below the 21EMA. However, the index may find short-term support within the 21930-22030 bands, where previous congestion occurred.

"Conversely, failure to maintain support at 21930 could exacerbate panic in the market. On the higher end, resistance for the short term is positioned at 22400," said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)