What is the Indian Share Market?

The Indian share market is the ecosystem where publicly-listed companies issue and trade shares. The two primary exchanges are the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) and the NSE (National Stock Exchange). All trading and disclosures are regulated by SEBI.

How to Start (Step-by-step)

  • 1
    Learn the basics

    Understand shares, primary vs secondary market, IPOs, indices, and investor types.

  • 2
    Open Demat + Trading Account

    Required documents: PAN, Aadhaar, bank account. Popular brokers: Zerodha, Upstox, Groww, ICICI Direct.

  • 3
    Choose investment instruments

    Start with index funds, large-cap mutual funds or ETFs before moving to individual stocks.

  • 4
    Learn analysis

    Fundamental analysis (financials, ROE, debt) + Technical basics (charts, trends) + macro indicators (RBI, inflation).

  • 5
    Start small — use SIPs

    Regular investing (SIP) reduces timing risk and benefits from rupee-cost averaging.

  • 6
    Manage risk & taxes

    Diversify, use stop-loss for trading, avoid margin until experienced. Understand capital gains tax (short & long term).

Instruments You Can Invest In

Key instruments available in India:

  • Equity Shares: Direct ownership in companies.
  • Mutual Funds / SIPs: Professionally managed pooled funds.
  • ETFs: Traded like stocks; track indices.
  • Derivatives (F&O): Futures & Options for hedging or leverage (advanced).
  • Bonds & Debentures: Fixed-income alternatives.

What Moves the Market?

  • Domestic factors: RBI policy changes, GDP growth, corporate earnings, budget announcements.
  • Global factors: Fed policy, crude oil, geopolitical events, FII flows.
  • Sentiment: News, analyst reports, herd behaviour.

Smart Strategies (Beginner → Intermediate)

  1. Diversify: Across sectors and instruments.
  2. Core & Satellite: Core = index funds; Satellite = selected stocks or active funds.
  3. Rebalance Annually: Lock gains and reset allocations.
  4. Stay Long-term: Compounding over years beats short-term timing.
  5. Keep an Emergency Fund: Avoid using invested capital for urgent needs.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Chasing tips or hot tips without research.
  • Overtrading and frequent switching.
  • Excessive leverage/margin trading for beginners.
  • Ignoring fees, taxes and exit loads in mutual funds.

Useful Resources

Official & educational sources:

  • SEBI — Investor education and regulatory updates.
  • NSE & BSE — Exchange websites for live data and indices.
  • Financial Media: Moneycontrol, Economic Times, BloombergQuint.
  • Books: "The Intelligent Investor" (Ben Graham), "One Up on Wall Street" (Peter Lynch).