Diwali 2025: Top Themes To Dominate Indian Stock Market In First Half of Samvat 2082; Consumer, Auto, More

Diwali 2025, Samvat 2082: Festive season buying, GST 2.0 reforms, healthy corporate earnings momentum are likely to fuel the next leg of the market rally. In the next six months duration, themes like microfinance, consumer discretionary, and public sector banks are expected to emerge as the key beneficiaries, noted investment managers on smallcase at a webinar held on Wednesday, October 15.

The second half of the financial year 2025-26, which loosely coincides with the beginning of Samvat 2082, will be led by financials, consumption, infrastructure, and power sectors, as policy reforms and festive sentiment fuel fresh opportunities, according to the investment experts.

"As we enter the festive season of 2025, India's financial markets present a complex yet promising landscape shaped by significant policy reforms, global headwinds, and domestic resilience. The combination of GST 2.0 implementation, infrastructure-led growth momentum, and evolving global dynamics creates unique investment opportunities while demanding careful navigation of emerging challenges," noted Dhiren Shah, Investment Manager on smallcase and Director & Co-founder, Kamayakya.

Festive Celebrations And Indian Stock Markets

The next week will mark the massive nationwide celebration of Diwali and other festivals like Dhanteras, Govardhan Pooja, etc. Diwali holds immense importance for stock market investors as Nifty and Sensex open for a fixed duration for Muhurat trading.

India's equity markets are entering the festive quarter with optimism, bolstered by rate cuts, GST 2.0 reforms, and improved domestic liquidity. Investment managers on smallcase anticipate that these factors, combined with a favourable festive calendar and macroeconomic stability, could make this one of the most promising holiday quarters in recent years.

Investment managers foresee renewed FII inflows, credit expansion, and strong earnings momentum driving the next phase of market growth. They identify microfinance, consumer discretionary sectors, and public sector banks as key beneficiaries of this trend.

Diwali Samvat 2082: Key Themes To Dominate In Next Six Years, H2FY26

According to the investment experts, NBFCs, consumer durables, IT services, consumer discretionary, automobiles, banking financial services, FMCG, power renewables, etc will dominate the stock market.

Dhiren Shah from Kamayakya highlighted that India's financial markets present a complex yet promising landscape shaped by significant policy reforms and domestic resilience. The combination of GST 2.0 implementation and infrastructure-led growth creates unique investment opportunities while demanding careful navigation of emerging challenges.

Robin Arya from GoalFi noted that India is experiencing a broad-based demand revival driven by a growing middle class with rising disposable income. GST cuts are enhancing affordability, while rate cuts ease credit flow. Urban and rural demand is converging due to increasing electrification and aspirational spending.

Review of H1 FY26: Mixed Performance Amid Global Headwinds

The first half of FY26 saw modest gains for benchmark indices despite global challenges. Nifty 50 advanced by 2.5%, supported by domestic institutional investors amid intense FII selling and elevated US interest rates.

Infrastructure and PSU Banks emerged as winners in H1FY26 with returns of 18.5% and 22.3% respectively, aligning with government capex focus. In contrast, IT services faced headwinds from H1-B visa fee hikes and reduced technology spending, declining by 15.5%. The metals sector struggled with China competition falling by 8.9%.

Ashwini Shami from OmniScience Capital expects economic growth momentum to continue with support from the current festive season and consumption boost due to tax cuts and a benign interest rate environment.

Foreign institutional investors sold Rs 2.13 lakh crore worth of Indian equities in the first nine months of 2025 due to expensive valuations and narrowing rate differentials with the US. However, recent data suggests stabilization with FII flows turning marginally positive in early October 2025.