Share market basics
NSE's benchmark index of 50 large, liquid Indian companies across sectors, weighted by free-float market cap; the most-traded index in India.
Nifty 50 is the National Stock Exchange's flagship index. It tracks 50 of the largest and most liquid companies listed on NSE, spread across sectors such as banking, IT, energy, FMCG and autos, weighted by free-float market capitalisation. When people say the market went up today, they usually mean Nifty or Sensex rose. You cannot buy the index itself, but you can buy a Nifty index fund or ETF, or trade Nifty futures and options, which are the most heavily traded derivatives in India. A one-point move in Nifty changes a one-lot position by the lot size in rupees. The index is reviewed twice a year, and companies are added or dropped. Nifty's level, say 24,000, is not a price in rupees; it is a number relative to its base value of 1,000 in 1995. Its daily change in percent is what matters.
VideoA share is a portion of a company. The share market is where those portions change hands. Here is how it works, what you can trade in it, and why most people who trade actively lose money.
VideoThe share market runs on two activities that look alike and are nothing alike. Investing is owning a business for years. Trading is profiting from price moves over hours or weeks. Mixing them up is behind most early losses.
VideoTrading comes in a few distinct forms, and the one you pick decides how much time, capital and stress it takes. This lesson explains intraday, swing, positional, futures and options trading with Indian examples.
