Diwali week 2026 is going to feel different on your trading terminal, and it is worth mapping out now rather than getting caught off guard on the day. Diwali falls on Sunday, 8 November, which means the usual symbolic Muhurat trading session happens on a weekend this year. Then, because Tuesday, 10 November is a full market holiday for Diwali-Balipratipada, the Nifty's weekly expiry for that week shifts from its usual Tuesday to Monday, 9 November. If you run weekly options positions, that one-day shift changes your entire week's plan.

Let us walk through exactly what happens on each day, why Muhurat trading exists in the first place, and how the holiday-driven expiry shift should factor into your F&O strategy.

The full Diwali week 2026 calendar

NSE and BSE have confirmed the key dates through their official circulars. Here is how the week actually breaks down.

Saturday, 7 November is Dhanteras, a normal trading day with markets open as usual. Sunday, 8 November is Diwali Laxmi Pujan, when regular markets are shut but the special Muhurat trading session runs. Monday, 9 November is a regular trading day, but it also becomes the Nifty's weekly expiry day this week because of what comes next. Tuesday, 10 November is Diwali-Balipratipada, a full market holiday, so no trading happens at all. Wednesday onward, the market returns to its usual rhythm until the next holiday on 24 November for Guru Nanak Jayanti.

What Muhurat trading actually is

Muhurat trading is a one-hour symbolic session held on Diwali Laxmi Pujan every year, marking the start of a new year on the Vikram Samvat calendar. This year it ushers in Samvat 2083. NSE has confirmed the session runs from 2:20 PM to 3:30 PM for regular trading, with a pre-open window before that for order collection. It is not a regular trading day in any functional sense, volumes are thin, and many participants treat it as a ceremonial gesture rather than a serious trading opportunity, often placing small symbolic buy orders considered auspicious for the year ahead.

That said, the session does have a real track record. Over the last ten years, the Nifty and Sensex have closed higher during Muhurat trading in eight out of ten sessions, with the strongest single-year gain coming in 2022 at close to 0.9%. The two losing years were modest declines, not sharp falls. So while nobody should read too much into one hour of light-volume trading, the historical bias has leaned positive.

Worth noting too, Muhurat sentiment does not always carry through the year. Samvat 2082, which started in October 2025, opened flat during its Muhurat session but the Nifty was down over 13% by the time this year's Diwali rolled around, a reminder that one festive hour tells you very little about the twelve months that follow.

Why the Nifty expiry shifts to Monday this week

Since September 2025, NSE's Nifty 50 weekly and monthly contracts expire every Tuesday, a change from the Thursday expiry that ran for years before that. Whenever the scheduled Tuesday expiry falls on a trading holiday, NSE moves it to the previous trading day instead. Since Tuesday, 10 November is the Diwali-Balipratipada holiday, that week's Nifty weekly contract expires a day early, on Monday, 9 November.

This is not a one-off quirk specific to Diwali, the same holiday-shift rule applied earlier in October too, when Dussehra fell on a Tuesday and pushed that week's expiry to Monday, 19 October. If you want the fuller background on how this new expiry framework works across the year, our explainer on Nifty's weekly expiry and open interest dynamics is a useful companion piece.

A quick comparison of the key dates

Date	Day	What happens
7 November	Saturday	Dhanteras, normal trading day
8 November	Sunday	Diwali Laxmi Pujan, Muhurat trading 2:20 to 3:30 PM
9 November	Monday	Regular trading, Nifty weekly expiry (shifted from Tuesday)
10 November	Tuesday	Diwali-Balipratipada, full market holiday
11 November	Wednesday	Regular trading resumes, new weekly contract begins

Muhurat trading's historical track record

How to plan your F&O positions around the shift

If you run weekly options strategies, the practical change is simple but easy to miss, this week's contract settles one day earlier than usual. Anyone used to timing entries or exits based on a Tuesday expiry needs to shift that mental calendar to Monday for this specific week. Theta decay, which normally accelerates through the last two trading days before a Tuesday expiry, will compress into a shorter window ending Monday instead.

If you are holding weekly option positions going into this week, it is worth reviewing your plan a day earlier than usual. Our guide on theta decay and how it eats into option premium near expiry is useful context for understanding how that compressed timeline affects pricing. If you tend to track open interest build-up to judge likely support and resistance zones, our piece on reading support and resistance using option chain OI can help you re-centre your analysis around the new Monday expiry date rather than the usual Tuesday.

For traders who prefer range-bound or defined-risk strategies during low-volume holiday weeks, structures like an iron condor can work well, since a shorter week with a weekend Muhurat session often sees lighter overall volumes. Our explainer on the iron condor strategy using the option chain walks through the setup if that fits your view for the week.

Once the new weekly contract begins on Wednesday, 11 November, things return to the normal Tuesday expiry cycle, so this is genuinely a one-week adjustment rather than a lasting change to the calendar.

What usually moves during Diwali week

Beyond the calendar mechanics, Diwali week tends to bring its own set of sector moves. Auto and EV stocks often see festive demand optimism play out in price action, something we tracked in our piece on EV stocks heading into Diwali season. Consumer and retail-facing names also tend to get attention around this period given festive spending patterns, covered in our look at the tier-2 and tier-3 festive demand boom.

It is also worth remembering that global cues do not pause for Indian festivals. The Fed's rate decisions and global rate trends continue to influence FPI flows and sentiment through this period regardless of the local holiday calendar, something we laid out in our global rate map for November. A quiet, low-volume holiday week at home does not mean global volatility takes a break too.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What is Muhurat trading and when is it in 2026?

Muhurat trading is a one-hour symbolic session marking the start of the Hindu financial year, Samvat 2083. In 2026, it falls on Sunday, 8 November, from 2:20 PM to 3:30 PM.

2. Why is the stock market closed on 10 November 2026?

10 November 2026 is Diwali-Balipratipada, a full trading holiday observed by NSE and BSE, a day after the Diwali Laxmi Pujan Muhurat session.

3. Why does the Nifty weekly expiry shift to Monday this week?

Nifty weekly options normally expire every Tuesday. Since Tuesday, 10 November 2026 is a market holiday, that week's expiry moves to the previous trading day, Monday, 9 November.

4. Does Muhurat trading affect the Nifty's actual price direction for the year?

Not reliably. While 8 of the last 10 Muhurat sessions closed higher, the broader year that followed has not always matched that early sentiment, as seen in Samvat 2082.

5. When does the regular Tuesday expiry cycle resume after Diwali week?

The next Nifty weekly contract begins trading on Wednesday, 11 November, and the regular Tuesday expiry cycle resumes from 17 November 2026 onward.