The Union Budget 2025, set to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, will outline the government's financial plans for the coming year. Despite the Budget being presented on a Saturday, both the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) have confirmed that stock markets will remain open for trading as usual, with regular market hours in place.
Equity markets will operate from 9:15 AM to 3:30 PM, while commodity derivatives trading will continue until 5:00 PM. However, the T+0 settlement session will be suspended due to a settlement holiday.
While stock exchanges typically remain closed on weekends, special trading sessions have been held in the past during Budget presentations on non-working days, as seen in 2020 and 2015. This ensures that investors can immediately respond to the government's fiscal decisions. Historically, the market's response to the Budget has been mixed, with some years seeing strong gains and others experiencing sharp declines.
Despite the stock markets being open, all mutual funds will observe a non-business day on Saturday, February 1, 2025. The net asset value (NAV) for mutual fund schemes will be declared based on the market closing on February 1, but no redemptions or settlements will occur according to that day’s NAV. This ensures that the unit values are aligned with the market value.