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Union Budget 2026: Will commodity market be open today? Check details

Sanjeev Kumar | February 1, 2026 11:22 AM CST

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Union Budget for 2026-27 today (February 1). Despite it being a Sunday, domestic financial markets will remain open to enable investors to respond promptly to the budget announcements.

Not only will the equity markets be operational, but commodity markets will also be open today. The country's major stock and commodity exchanges will hold special trading sessions. Both the NSE and BSE will remain open on Sunday during regular trading hours. The pre-open session will run from 9:00 am to 9:08 am, followed by normal trading from 9:15 am to 3:30 pm. Budget on Sunday for the second time since Independence This will be only the second occasion since India's Independence when the stock markets will operate on a Sunday. The last such instance was on February 28, 1999, during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government, when markets were kept open to present the Union Budget. On February 1, 2026, along with equity markets, commodity markets will also remain operational. The Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) and the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) will conduct live trading sessions on this otherwise non-working day, allowing market participants to react in real time to the Union Budget announcements.

MCX Trading Timings (February 1, 2026)

Pre-open session: 8:45 am to 8:59 am
Normal trading: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Client code modification: 9:00 am to 5:15 pm

NCDEX Trading Timings (February 1, 2026)

Pre-open session: From 9:45 am
Normal trading: 10:00 am to 5:00 am
Client code modification: 10:00 am to 5:15 pm

Budget presentation time and focus Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her ninth consecutive Union Budget at 11 am in the Lok Sabha. Market experts are focusing on areas such as double-digit capex growth, infrastructure, green energy, defense, and tax relief this time. Historical market performance on Budget Day Data from the last 15 years shows that the average movement of the Nifty on Budget day has been a mere 0.19%. However, the returns in the week following the budget have averaged almost 7 times more (around 1.3%). This means the market is often cautious on Budget day, but the real movement comes later.

Trading Holidays in 2026 According to the stock exchange calendar, there will be a total of 15 full trading holidays in 2026. Holidays falling on weekends and the special Muhurat trading session at the end of the year are also mentioned separately. This Sunday's budget and market opening presents a unique opportunity for investors to witness and react to the impact of the announcements during live trading.