Mumbai, Oct 14 (IANS) The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) will hold a special Diwali trading session over 60 minutes from 6:15 p.m. Saturday to pay obeisance to Lakshmi -- the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity.

The other major bourse, the National Stock Exchange, will hold a similar session -- also called muhurat -- during the same time to also mark the New Year for traders as per the Hindu lunar calendar, or Samwat 2066.

Derivatives and Futures trading will similarly be conducted at all the three major commodity exchanges in the country -- the Multi-Commodity Exchange, the National Multi-Commodity Exchange and the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange.

In stock markets, especially, where the tradition of muhurat trading dates back over a century, key indices have more often than not ended with gains, as most people believe in buying than selling on that day.

Even during the gloom period last year, the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) had risen as much as 498.52 points, or 5.9 percent, to close above the 9,000-point mark during the hour-long muhurat session.