Shares

The share market is a platform where buyers and sellers come together to trade on publicly listed shares during specific hours of the day. People often use the terms ‘share market’ and ‘stock market’ interchangeably. However, the key difference between the two lies in the fact that while the former is used to trade only shares, the latter allows you to trade various financial securities such as bonds, derivatives, forex etc.

The principal stock exchanges in India are the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Share markets can be further classified into two parts: primary markets and secondary markets.

Primary Share Markets When a company registers itself for the first time at the stock exchange to raise funds through shares, it enters the primary market. This is called an Initial Public Offering (IPO), after which the company becomes publicly registered and its shares can be traded within market participants.

Secondary Market Once a company’s new securities have been sold in the primary market, they are then traded on the secondary stock market. Here, investors get the opportunity to buy and sell the shares among themselves at the prevailing market prices. Typically investors conduct these transactions through a broker or other such intermediary who can facilitate this process.