Confusion has spread among traders this week as the stock market remains closed on Tuesday, March 3, while Holi is being celebrated across many parts of the country on Wednesday, March 4.
The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) have declared March 3 as the official trading holiday for Holi 2026 in their annual calendar. However, due to a lunar eclipse today, many shifted the celebration of colours to March 4.
Holika Dahan was observed in several regions on March 2. Since March 3 coincides with the lunar eclipse, many people are marking Holi on March 4 instead. This has led to confusion over whether markets will also remain shut tomorrow.
As per the official exchange holiday list, markets are closed only on March 3. Trading will resume on Wednesday, March 4, when large parts of the country will celebrate Holi.
The Multi Commodity Exchange of India will remain shut in the morning session between 9 am and 5 pm on Tuesday. It will reopen for the evening session from 5 pm to 11:55 pm.
The National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange will remain closed for the entire day.
INVESTORS REACT TO CONFUSION OVER MARKET HOLIDAY
The mismatch between the exchange holiday and the main celebration date has drawn reactions on social media platform X.
Piyush Trades questioned the timing of the holiday. He wrote, “Humble request to NSE. Please don’t schedule trading holidays on festivals if you can’t keep them on the correct dates.”
He added that earlier Diwali and now Holi holidays did not match the main celebration dates in many regions. “There’s no point in having festival holidays if they’re not set on the correct dates,” he said, adding that as a “national” stock exchange, holidays should reflect the entire country.
Another user, Sanjay Lazar, also pointed to the confusion. He wrote, “Bank Holiday is today – but there is major confusion because of the grahan (lunar eclipse today).” He further noted that Holika Dahan was done last night as well, which added to the uncertainty.
Sharad Jhunjhunwala also criticised the timing. In his post, he said NSE and BSE seem to be ignoring major festivals if holidays are given on the wrong date.
He wrote that last year it was Diwali and now Holi. He questioned how such major festivals could be ignored in scheduling.
He further said, “As a Trader, I would Boycott Trading on 4th March,” calling on others to do the same. In his original post he mistakenly mentioned 4th February, but later clarified that he meant March 4.
These reactions show that many retail traders expected markets to be shut on March 4 instead of March 3.
WHAT ARE THE NEXT MARKET HOLIDAYS IN 2026?
As per the NSE holiday calendar for 2026, the next market closures after Holi are:
The market will remain closed on March 26 for Shri Ram Navami and on March 31 for Shri Mahavir Jayanti.
In April, trading will be closed on April 3 for Good Friday and April 14 for Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Jayanti.
In May, markets will remain shut on May 1 for Maharashtra Day and May 28 for Bakri Id.
June will see one holiday on June 26 for Muharram.
There will be no trading holidays in July and August.
In September, markets will be closed on September 14 for Ganesh Chaturthi.
October will have holidays on October 2 for Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti and October 20 for Dussehra.
In November, the market will be closed on November 10 for Diwali-Balipratipada and November 24 for Prakash Gurpurab Sri Guru Nanak Dev.
December will have one holiday on December 25 for Christmas.
The calendar also notes that November 8, 2026, will be a trading holiday on account of Diwali Laxmi Pujan, with Muhurat Trading to be conducted on that day. The exact timings for Muhurat Trading will be announced separately.
Some holidays such as Mahashivratri on February 15, Id-Ul-Fitr on March 21, Independence Day on August 15 and Diwali Laxmi Pujan on November 8 fall on weekends, so there will be no additional weekday market closure for those dates.
For now, markets are closed only on March 3 for Holi. Trading will resume on March 4 as per normal schedule, even as many parts of the country celebrate the festival of colours.
