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BSE began in 1875 as 'The Native Share & Stock Brokers' Association', making it Asia's oldest stock exchange.

Source: Britannica

Before BSE was formed, Bombay's brokers traded under a banyan tree near the Town Hall, at today's Horniman Circle.

Source: Britannica

'Dalal' means broker, so Dalal Street, the Mumbai street where BSE set up its trading floor, is literally 'broker street'.

Source: Britannica

BSE was the first stock exchange recognised by the Government of India under the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956.

Source: Britannica

The Sensex was launched on 1 January 1986 as a basket of 30 stocks, with a base value of 100 and 1978-79 as its base year.

Source: Business Standard

'Sensex' blends 'sensitive' and 'index'. The name is credited to market analyst Deepak Mohoni.

Source: PrimeInvestor

The Nifty 50's base value of 1,000 is set on 3 November 1995. The index itself was launched on 22 April 1996.

Source: NSE Indices (Nifty 50 factsheet)

NSE, incorporated in 1992, began operations in 1994 and was the first exchange in India to offer screen-based (electronic) trading.

Source: NSE

BSE moved to electronic trading in 1995 with BOLT, short for BSE On-Line Trading.

Source: Britannica

SEBI was set up on 12 April 1988 as a non-statutory body. It gained statutory powers when the SEBI Act came into force on 30 January 1992.

Source: SEBI

NSDL, India's first depository, began operations in November 1996, after the Depositories Act. CDSL followed in March 1999.

Source: NSE (Indian Securities Market Review 2000)

BSE, Asia's oldest exchange, listed its own shares on its rival, NSE, on 3 February 2017.

Source: Business Standard (PTI)

India's mutual fund industry began in 1963 with the Unit Trust of India, set up by an Act of Parliament.

Source: AMFI

NSE launched its first derivative, Nifty 50 index futures, on 12 June 2000. Index options followed on 4 June 2001.

Source: NSE

The Futures Industry Association ranked NSE the world's largest derivatives exchange by contracts traded for five years in a row, up to 2023.

Source: NSE · as of Jan 2024

India completed its move to T+1 settlement on 27 January 2023, so equity trades settle one working day after the trade.

Source: Business Standard

Muhurat trading is a symbolic one-hour session held on Diwali. It marks the start of the new Samvat year in the Hindu calendar.

Source: Business Standard

Indian equity markets hold a pre-open call auction from 9:00 to 9:15 am. Regular continuous trading starts at 9:15 am.

Source: Business Today · as of Aug 2026

Since 3 August 2026, F&O stocks end continuous trading at 3:15 pm and get their closing price from a closing auction. Equity derivatives now trade till 3:40 pm.

Source: Business Today · as of Aug 2026

India's market-wide circuit breakers halt all equity and equity-derivative trading if the Sensex or Nifty 50 moves 10%, 15% or 20% either way.

Source: NSE

NSE's unique registered investor base crossed 13 crore on 27 April 2026, about seven months after reaching 12 crore.

Source: NSE press release · as of Apr 2026

The median age of an NSE registered investor is about 33, down from 36 in FY21, and nearly 40% of investors are under 30.

Source: NSE press release · as of Apr 2026

Nearly one in four investors registered on NSE is a woman.

Source: NSE press release · as of Apr 2026

At the end of June 2026, NSDL held about 4.6 crore demat accounts and CDSL about 18.6 crore.

Source: SEBI Monthly Bulletin, July 2026 · as of Jun 2026

A SEBI study (September 2024) found that 93% of individual equity F&O traders made losses from FY22 to FY24, with combined losses of over ₹1.8 lakh crore.

Source: SEBI press release PR 37/2024 · as of Sep 2024

Assam's investor base on NSE grew 6.9 times between FY21 and April 2026.

Source: NSE press release · as of Apr 2026

In the Northeast, Mizoram's NSE investor base grew 8.7 times and Arunachal Pradesh's 7.9 times between FY21 and April 2026.

Source: NSE press release · as of Apr 2026

In early 2025, Assam had over 24.6 lakh registered investors. 29.8% of them were women, the fifth-highest share among Indian states.

Source: NSE (MEGA RISA Guwahati) · as of Feb 2025

In 2012, SEBI set up a local office in Guwahati to help investors in Assam and other Northeastern states.

Source: Business Standard

Guwahati once had its own stock exchange. SEBI allowed the Gauhati Stock Exchange to exit the business in January 2015, under its exit policy for regional exchanges.

Source: Business Standard