Introduction to the Indian Stock Market

Introduction and brief historyyears ago in 1992. In that short period of time, it has
The Indian stock market today is actually comprisedgrown to nearly 1,600 company listings and has a
of two key entities and over 20 other exchanges.current market capitalization of 47,01,923 Rupees
These 2 primary entities are the Bombay Stock(Wikipedia). It was predicted that the NSE would be
Exchange Limited and the NSE or the National Stockthe largest stock exchange in India where market
Exchange of India Limited. There is an interestingcapitalization was considered when 2009 ended.
past history regarding where the two marketsUp until the 1980's there was no way to measure or
originated from. During the 1850's, the first stockscale the ups and downs in stock values. However, in
exchange in India was established when the East1986, the BSE implemented SENSEX, which was a
India Company created and developed a "community"stock index. Three years later, India witnessed the
of brokers.launch of the BSE National Index. It was renamed the
By 1860, there were already 60 broker members ofBSE-100 Index in October of 1996 because it was
the exchange. As of 1874 and the results of a rapidlycomprised of 100 different stocks listed with India's 5
expanding share trading industry, these brokersmajor stock exchanges. These 5 major markets
gathered regularly (at a well-know location which iswere Ahmedabad, Calcutta, Delhi, Madras, and
now known as Dalal Street) in order to conduct theirMumbai. Additionally, the dollar-linked version of the
business. Stockbrokers began gathering in front ofBSE-100 was launched in May of 2006.
Mumbai's Town Hall, conducting there meetingNumerous banks, financial intermediaries, insurance
underneath Banyan trees, and the Indian stockcompanies, and leading financial institutions mutually
market was born.own the NSE. However, the entities of management
Although there are actually over 20 different stockand ownership are completely separate entities.
exchanges in India today, but the two most powerfulInterestingly enough, 2 of the NSE's foreign investors
ones are the two mentioned above. The Bombayhave taken a serious position in the NSE - Goldman
Stock Exchange Limited oftentimes referred to asSachs and NYSE Euronext.
the BSE, was originally established in 1875.Differences between the BSE and the NSE
Interestingly enough, it is the oldest stock market onThe key difference between the BSE and the NSE is
the entire Asian continent that has been operatingthat the former is not automated yet, although
since the very beginning. Today there are over 4,700progress is being made to achieve full automation,
companies listed on the BSE as well as over 7,700whereas the latter is a fully automated exchange
stock exchange scripts.complete with the electronic processing of market
The National Stock Exchange of India Limited, or NSEorders. There are over 2,000 stocks now listed with
as it is called, is an Indian stock market based in thethe NSE while over 4,700 have been listed with the
city of Mumbai and was originally established only 18BSE.