Share market basics
The live list of pending buy and sell orders for a stock at each price, showing market depth and where supply and demand actually sit.
The order book, also called market depth, is the exchange's live list of all unexecuted limit orders in a stock. Buy orders (bids) are stacked on one side by price, highest first; sell orders (asks) on the other, lowest first. Brokers show the top five levels on each side with quantities. If SBI's book shows 2,000 shares bid at ₹800 and 1,500 offered at ₹800.10, the spread is ten paise and both sides are deep. A market buy for 3,000 shares would take the 1,500 at ₹800.10 and the next 1,500 at higher prices. In a thin stock, the book might show only a few hundred shares at each level with gaps of a rupee or more, warning you that any sizeable order will move the price. Look at the book before trading anything unfamiliar, and note that large quantities can be placed and pulled quickly.
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