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| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Benchmark BSE Sensex rose nearly 448 points in the early session of special Muhurat trading on across-the-board buying by investors to mark the start of the new Samvat Year 2081.

The 30-share index increased 447.90 points, or 0.56%, to 79,836.96 as all of its constituents traded in the green. The index opened higher at 80,023.75 but shed some gains later.

The 50-issue Nifty of the NSE spurted 150.10 points, or 0.62%, to 24,355.45 with 47 of its constituents ending in the green.

Among major Sensex movers, Mahindra & Mahindra rose 2.66%, Adani Ports 1.42%, and Tata Motors by 1.35%.

NTPC, Axis Bank, Titan, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Bharti Airtel also advanced.

Muhurat trading is a one-hour, symbolic trading session conducted by stock exchanges on the occasion of Diwali, marking the start of the new Samvat year.

During the Samvat year 2080 that ended on Thursday, the BSE Sensex jumped 14,484.38 points, or 22.31 per cent, while the Nifty climbed 4,780 points, or 24.60 per cent.

Global markets were mixed as European shares rose in early trade. Most Asian markets closed with losses.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 2.6%, the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.2 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.5%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index added 0.9%.