Eicher Motors leads Indian stocks higher in special Diwali session

BENGALURU: Indian shares rose in a special one-hour "muhurat" trading session to mark the festival of Diwali on Thursday, led by sharp gains in Eicher Motors on upbeat quarterly profit.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index settled 0.49% higher at 17,916.8, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex also closed with an identical 0.49% gain at 60,067.62. The market will remain closed on Friday for a holiday.

"Muhurat" means auspicious in Hindi, and many traders believe gains made during this session bring prosperity and wealth in the year ahead.

The Nifty Auto index was the best performer among sub-indexes, closing 1.5% higher.

Eicher gained 5.5% after the truck and motorcycle maker reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday. Mahindra and Mahindra climbed 2.8%.

Indian shares end lower as banks drag; SBI hits record high on results

The Nifty PSU Bank index, which tracks state-owned lenders, was up 1.4%.

Aluminium producer Hindalco Industries was the biggest laggard on the blue-chip Nifty 50, slipping 1.2%.

India's benchmark stock indexes have outperformed Asian peers this calendar year with gains of more than 25% each, as retail participation increased and vaccinations gathered pace.

However, several brokerages such as Morgan Stanley, Nomura and UBS recently downgraded Indian equities on concerns about expensive valuations, and have hinted that a consolidation should be expected.

Meanwhile, broader stock markets were at record highs on Thursday after a smooth start to the US Federal Reserve's mass stimulus unwind plan.