BSE and NSE to remain closed on Wednesday, November 20, amid Maharashtra elections

The BSE, earlier Bombay Stock Exchange, and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) will be closed on November 20, 2024, on account of state legislative assembly elections in Maharashtra. The stock markets will observe a trading and settlement holiday for the stocks, derivatives, and securities lending & borrowing (SLB) segments.

On November 8, the NSE issued a circular stating, “The Exchange hereby notifies Wednesday, November 20, 2024, as a trading holiday on account of Assembly Elections in Maharashtra.”

On October 15, 2024, the Election Commission of India (EC) announced the dates on which voting for the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly would take place. The elections for the 288-member legislative assembly will be conducted in a single phase. The elections will be contested by 4,136 candidates, with the counting of votes scheduled for November 23, 2024.

In addition to the BSE and NSE, the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) will remain closed for the morning session, which takes place from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. However, the exchange will be open for the evening session, which is conducted from 5:00 p.m. to 11:55 p.m.

The NSE and BSE are open on weekdays from 9:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The exchanges also conduct a pre-opening session from 9:00 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.

Last week, the stock markets observed a holiday on November 15 on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti. The markets also remained closed on November 1, 2024, due to Diwali. However, the exchanges were open for the annual hour-long Muharat trading session.

As per the list of holidays for the stock exchanges, the next holiday will be December 25, 2024, on the occasion of Christmas.

Earlier in 2024, the stock markets were closed on January 22 for the inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. Additionally, the markets observed a holiday on May 20 of this year because of the Lok Sabha elections.

With the holiday on November 20, the stock markets will have remained closed for three days in the month of November 2024. The markets were also closed for three days in March 2024 due to Mahashivratri, Holi, and Good Friday.