BSE

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), officially BSE Limited, is Asia's oldest stock exchange, established in 1875 at Dalal Street, Mumbai. It is one of two primary stock exchanges in India (alongside the NSE) and lists over 5,000 companies — more than any other exchange in the world by listed entities.

BSE's benchmark index is the S&P BSE Sensex, comprising 30 of the largest and most actively traded companies across key sectors. The Sensex was created in 1986 with a base value of 100 (base year 1978-79) and serves as the barometer of Indian market sentiment. As of 2024, the Sensex has surpassed 70,000, representing a 700x return from its base value over four decades.

While BSE has more listed companies, NSE dominates in trading volume — over 90% of equity cash segment turnover and nearly 100% of derivatives trading happens on NSE. BSE has carved a niche in SME listings through its BSE SME platform, which has lower listing requirements and has become a popular route for small companies to access public markets.

BSE's trading platform, BOLT Plus, matches orders in microseconds. Trading hours are 9:15 AM to 3:30 PM IST (same as NSE), with a pre-open session from 9:00-9:15 AM. BSE also operates the BSE StAR MF platform for mutual fund transactions, which processes millions of SIP transactions monthly.

Key BSE indices beyond the Sensex include the S&P BSE 500 (broad market), S&P BSE MidCap, S&P BSE SmallCap, and sector-specific indices like BSE Bankex and BSE IT. BSE itself listed on NSE in 2017 via an IPO and trades as a listed company. The exchange is regulated by SEBI and plays a crucial role in India's capital market infrastructure alongside depositories (NSDL, CDSL) and clearing corporations.