Equity markets will remain closed for a total of 14 days in the next calendar year, one less than the current year 2023.
In the year 2023, markets were closed for 15 annual holidays.
In 2024, the markets will be shut for Republic Day (January 26), Mahashivaratri (March 8), Holi (March 25), Good Friday (March 2029), Ramzan Id (April 11), Ram Navami (April 17), 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.
Sensex and Nifty have delivered high teen returns in the year 2023, which was marked by monetary tightening and high inflation.
As we enter 2024, analysts remain bullish on equity as an asset class and believe that, in the medium to long term, they will continue to be the best asset class in terms of risk adjusted return.
“As a result, we do not see any major reason to reduce strategic allocation in equities or boost debt allocation at this time,” said Anand Rathi.
Analysts further expect mid and small cap indexes to continue outperforming largecap indices in 2024 as well due to their higher earnings profile.
“Indian equity valuations remain at a premium compared to emerging and developed markets, this reflects investors’ continued confidence in the long-term growth story. Nifty earnings growth for FY23 stood at 12%, and there’s an optimistic outlook with expectations of around 13% growth in both FY24 and FY25,” said Sampath Reddy, CIO, Bajaj Allianz Life.
“As such the earnings growth trajectory of India Inc remains strong in the post COVID era thereby supporting market performance,” he said.
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(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)
