CHENNAI: Escorts Kubota Ltd (EKL), the agriculture and construction equipment manufacturer, is likely to increase tractor prices by an average of 4% after Diwali as it seeks to pass on rising input costs to customers.
Chandana N, a working woman, said, “I usually buy one litre of milk every day. An increase of Rs 8 per litre means I will have to spend an additional Rs 240 every month. Milk is a basic necessity, and such price increases make household budgeting difficult.”
Volatile start to Samvat 2083 as Sensex and Nifty gives up early gain, settles in the red, the 2026 Muhurat Trading session also marked the auspicious beginning of Samvat 2083, the Hindu financial calendar year.
Indian equities began Samvat 2083 on a volatile note with benchmark indices - BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 - surrendering their early gains to end in the red in the special Diwali Mahurat trading session on Sunday.
The 30-share BSE Sensex touched an intraday high of 81,442, while the 50-share NSE Nifty50 climbed to 25,132.
However, at the end of the session, the Sensex was down 29 points, or 0.04%, at 80,999, while the Nifty declined 44 points, or 0.18%, to 24,986.
The 2026 Muhurat Trading session also marked the auspicious beginning of Samvat 2083, the Hindu financial calendar year.
Market experts expect the new year to bring cheer to investors with several positive market cues likely to support sentiment.
“After two years of stagnation, the market has the potential to give investors bumper returns by next Diwali, because of confluence of low valuation and high earnings growth.
Potential crash in oil prices, stable currency, return of foreign investors, moderation of AI hype and broad-based earnings growth will support higher valuation multiples,” said Raamdeo Agrawal, Chairman and Co-Founder of Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
The optimism in the market comes as the Sensex surged 7,782 points, or 10.62% and the Nifty rallied 2,331 points, or 10.27% in the last 7 sessions as record foreign institutional investor (FII) inflows and easing crude oil prices lifted sentiment.
The Samvat year gone was one of the most turbulent for Indian equity investors with headline indices - BSE Sensex and Nifty50 - narrowly escaping what could have been their worst Samvat performance in 15 years.
A record pre-Diwali rally helped the market recover from deeper losses.
Despite the recovery, the BSE benchmark tumbled 3,398 points, or 4%, and the Nifty declined 838 points or 3.24% in Samvat 2082.
The broader market, however, showed resilience with Nifty Midcap 100 surging 2.12% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 gaining 4.22%.
Samvat 2082 tested investors’ patience as Indian equities were weighed down by the ongoing West Asia conflict, Brent crude above $100/bbl, a rupee near ?95/USD and record foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows.
Motilal Oswal Financial Services, in a recent note, said that Samvat 2083 begins on a cautious note, as an external energy shock overshadows a resilient economy.
The West Asia conflict has kept Brent crude above $100/bbl, lifting CPI inflation to 5.54% in September and prompting a 25 bps repo rate hike to 5.50%.
Record FII outflows of about $28 billion in Jan–Sep’26 and a rupee near ?95/USD have weighed on large caps.
Yet domestic growth remains robust, with GDP at 7.8% in Q1FY27, while budgeted capex of ?12.2 lakh crore and last year’s tax and GST relief support demand, and record SIP inflows have absorbed foreign selling, stated the brokerage.
For Samvat 2083, the domestic brokerage is positive on BFSI and Capital Markets, Manufacturing, Global. It said that banks are set for steady loan growth with improving margins, while rising participation supports the capital markets segment.
