The Indian market terms used across our coverage — indices and flows, derivatives, valuation, macro policy, chart language, commodities and mutual funds — defined in plain English, in the order a new reader needs them.
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The vocabulary of a trading session: how size, price bands and settlement are described.
Also called: market cap
The total value of a listed company at the current price: share price multiplied by the number of shares outstanding. It is how companies are ranked as large, mid or small cap, and it moves with the price every second of the session.
Related: Free-Float Market Capitalisation, Price-to-Earnings Ratio
Also called: free float
Market value of only those shares that are available for public trading, excluding promoter holdings and other locked-in stakes. NSE and BSE indices are weighted by free float, so a company with a large promoter stake carries less index weight than its full market cap suggests.
Related: Market Capitalisation, Promoter Holding
Also called: par value
The nominal value printed on a share, commonly Re 1, Rs 2 or Rs 10. It is not the market price: dividends are declared per share of face value, and splits and bonus issues are expressed against it.
Related: Stock Split, Bonus Issue
Also called: net worth per share
Shareholders funds divided by the number of shares outstanding. Comparing it with the market price gives the price-to-book ratio, which is a common starting point for banks and other asset-heavy businesses.
Related: Price-to-Book Ratio, Return on Equity
Also called: advance decline
The balance between rising and falling stocks across the market. Broad strength means most shares are participating; narrowing breadth means an index is being carried by a handful of heavyweights, which is often a warning sign.
Related: Advance-Decline Ratio, Nifty 50
Also called: AD ratio
The number of advancing stocks divided by the number of declining stocks in a session. A reading above one means more shares rose than fell, which is a quick way to judge whether an index move was broad or narrow.
Related: Market Breadth
Also called: price band, circuit limit
The daily price band an exchange sets for a stock, typically 5, 10 or 20 per cent of the previous close. Trading halts at the limit: an upper circuit means buyers are queued with no sellers, a lower circuit the reverse.
Related: Price Band, Liquidity
Also called: settlement cycle
Indian equities settle one business day after the trade, so shares and funds change hands on the next working day. It is why selling and buying again the next morning is possible, and why pay-in obligations fall due so quickly.
Related: Delivery Percentage, T+1 Settlement
Also called: delivery volume
The share of a stock traded quantity that resulted in actual delivery rather than intraday squaring-off. A high delivery percentage is usually read as positional buying or selling; a low one as speculative churn.
Related: Open Interest, T+1 Settlement
Also called: depth
How easily a position can be bought or sold without moving the price. It is judged by traded value, bid-ask spread and order-book depth; thin liquidity is what makes a small-cap move violently on modest volumes.
Related: Market Capitalisation, Volume
Also called: operating range
Either the exchange-set daily circuit limit for a stock, or the price range in an IPO book build within which investors must bid. The meaning is clear from context: a band on a listed stock is a circuit, a band in a new issue is a valuation range.
Also called: pre-open, call auction
The brief call-auction window before the 9:15 open in which orders are collected and matched at a single equilibrium price. It absorbs overnight news into one opening print instead of a disorderly first minute.
Related: Upper and Lower Circuit, Liquidity
Also called: spread
The gap between the highest price a buyer will pay and the lowest price a seller will accept. A tight spread means a liquid stock where entering and exiting is cheap; a wide one is the first warning that liquidity is thin.
Related: Liquidity, Impact Cost
Also called: market impact
The price concession needed to execute a large order at once, measured against the prevailing quote. The exchanges publish impact-cost data for index stocks, which is how institutions judge whether a position can be built without moving the market.
Related: Bid-Ask Spread, Liquidity
Also called: intraday exit
Closing an intraday position before the session ends, as opposed to taking delivery. Positions left open are squared off automatically by the broker near the close, usually at whatever price is then going.
Related: Delivery Percentage, Volume
Also called: buy today sell tomorrow
Selling shares the morning after buying them, before they are delivered into the demat account under T+1 settlement. It is allowed except in trade-to-trade stocks, and it carries overnight gap risk for one night of exposure.
Related: T+1 Settlement, Delivery Percentage
What the headline numbers mean, and how index membership changes a stock.
Also called: Nifty, NSE benchmark
The National Stock Exchange benchmark index of 50 large, liquid companies spanning major sectors, weighted by free-float market capitalisation. It is the reference for most Indian equity portfolios and the underlying for the most active derivatives contracts.
Related: Sensex, Free-Float Market Capitalisation, Bank Nifty
Also called: BSE Sensex
The BSE benchmark index of 30 large, well-established companies. Older than the Nifty, it is still the number most often quoted in headlines, and it moves with the same drivers as its NSE counterpart.
Related: Nifty 50
Also called: Nifty Bank
The NSE sector index of the most liquid listed banks. Banking carries the largest weight in Indian benchmarks, so Bank Nifty is watched as the high-beta expression of the same market view.
Also called: index reconstitution
The scheduled review in which an index adds or removes constituents. Inclusion brings buying from index-tracking funds, and exclusion brings selling, so the announcement date itself moves prices.
Related: Free-Float Market Capitalisation, Foreign Portfolio Investor
Also called: volatility index, fear index
The National Stock Exchange volatility index derived from Nifty option prices. A rising VIX means the market is paying up for protection and expecting sharper swings; a falling VIX signals calm.
Related: Implied Volatility, Put Option
Also called: systematic risk
A measure of how much a stock moves relative to its benchmark. A beta above one means it typically swings more than the index, below one less; it is a historical estimate, not a forecast.
Related: India VIX, Bank Nifty
Also called: Junior Nifty
The index of the 50 stocks ranked just below the Nifty 50 by size and liquidity. It is the waiting room for benchmark inclusion, so index-rebalancing flows in and out of it every review.
Related: Nifty 50, Index Rebalancing
Also called: TRI
A version of an index that assumes all dividends are reinvested, unlike the headline price index. Fund performance is measured against the TRI, which is why a fund can lag the index you see on television and still beat its benchmark.
Related: Nifty 50, Dividend Yield
Also called: sector indices, Nifty IT, Nifty Pharma
Benchmarks that track one industry, such as banks, information technology or pharmaceuticals. They show whether a move is market-wide or sector-specific, which is the first split a sector rotation story needs.
Related: Bank Nifty, Nifty 50
Who is buying: the participants whose activity the daily numbers track.
Also called: foreign institutional investor, FII buying, FII selling
Net buying or selling by foreign institutional investors in Indian equities, published daily by the exchanges. Sustained FII selling pressures the rupee as well as prices, which is why the number is reported alongside the index move.
Related: Foreign Portfolio Investor, DII Activity, Foreign Exchange Reserves
Also called: domestic institutional investor
Net buying or selling by domestic institutions such as mutual funds, insurers, banks and pension funds. DII flows are tracked as the counterweight to foreign flows, and domestic funds buying into FII selling has repeatedly cushioned Indian drawdowns.
Related: FII Activity, Market Capitalisation
Also called: FPI
The Securities and Exchange Board of India registration category under which foreign funds invest in Indian securities today, having replaced the older FII and sub-account structure. Registration type decides investment limits and disclosure obligations.
Related: FII Activity, Securities and Exchange Board of India
Also called: bulk transaction
A single-day transaction in a listed stock of more than 0.5 per cent of the company paid-up equity, disclosed by the exchange on the same evening. It shows up in price and volume as a single large trade.
Related: Block Deal, Delivery Percentage
Also called: negotiated deal
A large negotiated trade executed through a dedicated exchange window rather than the order book, with a minimum transaction value and a short reporting window. Block deals are a common route for a promoter or institution to move a stake without disturbing the market.
Related: Bulk Deal, Offer for Sale, Promoter Holding
Also called: promoter stake
The share of a company held by its promoters. Quarterly disclosure makes it a governance signal: rising pledges, creeping dilution or an unexplained selldown are read as warnings, while a promoter adding shares is read as conviction.
Related: Pledge, Block Deal, Free-Float Market Capitalisation
Also called: promoter pledge, encumbered shares
Shares committed as collateral for a loan. High promoter pledge is a risk marker, because a falling share price can trigger more collateral being demanded and, in the worst case, forced sale of pledged shares.
Related: Promoter Holding
Also called: P-Notes, offshore derivative instruments
Instruments through which overseas investors without direct registration take exposure to Indian securities via a registered intermediary. Their share of foreign flows is watched as a gauge of unregistered offshore interest, and tightening disclosure norms around them periodically moves the market.
Related: Foreign Portfolio Investor, FII Activity
Also called: SLBM, stock lending
A facility for lending shares to borrowers, typically short sellers, in exchange for a fee and collateral. Lending rates and utilisation show where borrowed shares are in demand, which is a direct read on short-selling pressure.
Related: Short Selling, Delivery Percentage
Also called: MTF, funded positions
Broker-funded leveraged stock positions, where the investor puts up part of the value as margin and the broker funds the rest against pledged shares. Rising MTF exposure shows where leveraged length is concentrated before crowded moves unwind.
Related: Pledge, Delivery Percentage
Events that change the share count, the price, or the pool of owners.
Also called: IPO, listing
A company first sale of shares to the public, priced either at a fixed price or through a book build within a band. Allotment, listing gains and the lock-in on anchor investors are the parts of an IPO a reader actually asks about.
Related: SME IPO, Grey Market Premium, Price Band
Also called: NSE Emerge listing, SME board
A public issue on the dedicated small and medium enterprise platforms of the exchanges. Minimum ticket sizes are larger, liquidity after listing is thinner, and price discovery is generally more volatile than on the main board.
Related: Initial Public Offering, Liquidity
Also called: OFS
A sale of existing shares by promoters or large shareholders through the exchange, with no fresh money going to the company. It reduces float without raising capital, and the floor price signals what the seller considers fair.
Related: Follow-on Public Offer, Promoter Holding, Free-Float Market Capitalisation
Also called: FPO
A further issue of shares to the public by a company that is already listed, which does raise fresh capital. It is dilutive to existing holders unless they subscribe in proportion.
Related: Initial Public Offering, Rights Issue, Offer for Sale
Also called: GMP
The unofficial premium at which shares of an unlisted, upcoming issue are traded before listing. It is an unregulated, thin market, so GMP is an indication of demand sentiment and never a promise of listing gain.
Related: Initial Public Offering, SME IPO
Also called: bonus shares
Free additional shares issued to existing holders in a ratio such as 1:1. The share count rises and the price adjusts proportionately, so the holding value is unchanged: it is a signal of confidence and of reserves, not a windfall.
Related: Stock Split, Face Value
Also called: share split
Splitting one share into several of lower face value, for example Rs 10 into Rs 2. The price falls in the same proportion and the investor holding value is unchanged; the purpose is affordability and wider participation.
Related: Bonus Issue, Face Value
Also called: share repurchase
A company buying its own shares, through a tender offer or in the open market. It reduces the share count, lifts earnings per share mechanically, and is a way of returning cash to holders, sometimes at a premium to the market price.
Related: Earnings Per Share, Dividend Yield
Also called: rights entitlement
An offer of new shares to existing holders in proportion to their holding, usually at a discount. It protects holders from dilution if they subscribe, and the rights entitlement itself can be sold in the market.
Related: Follow-on Public Offer, Record Date
Also called: yield
Annual dividend per share as a percentage of the current market price. A high yield can mean an income opportunity or a market expectation that the dividend will be cut, which is why the payout ratio matters as much as the yield.
Related: Record Date, Ex-Dividend Date
Also called: entitlement date
The date on which a company fixes the list of holders entitled to a dividend, bonus or rights entitlement. To be on that list you must own the shares before the ex-date.
Related: Ex-Dividend Date, Dividend Yield
Also called: ex-date
The first day on which a buyer of the shares no longer receives the announced dividend or entitlement. The price adjusts by roughly the payout on that morning, which is why a headline fall on an ex-date is not a loss of value.
Related: Record Date, Dividend Yield
Also called: QIP
A listed company raising fresh equity directly from qualified institutions, without an offer document for retail investors. It is faster than a follow-on offer and is usually priced at a small discount, so the announcement often pressures the stock briefly.
Also called: anchor book
A qualified institution allotted shares a day before an IPO opens to the public, at a fixed price. Anchor participation is read as an institutional vote of confidence, and the allotted shares stay locked in after listing.
Related: Initial Public Offering, Grey Market Premium
Also called: bid lot
The minimum number of shares one IPO application must bid for, fixed from the price band. It sets the minimum ticket for retail applicants and decides how many shares a successful allotment contains.
Related: Initial Public Offering, Cut-off Price
Also called: cut-off bid
Bidding in an IPO at whatever price is finally discovered, instead of naming one. Retail investors use it to stay eligible at any clearing price, which is why most successful retail applications bid at cut-off.
Related: Lot Size, Price Band
Also called: DRHP, offer document
The draft offer document a company files with SEBI before an IPO, carrying financials, risks, objects of the issue and litigations. Every IPO story between filing and listing is essentially a reading of this document.
Related: Initial Public Offering, Securities and Exchange Board of India
Also called: listing pop
The difference between the IPO issue price and the price on listing day, expressed as a percentage. Positive listing gains are why IPOs attract first-time applicants, and grey market chatter tries to predict them in advance.
Related: Initial Public Offering, Grey Market Premium
Also called: allotment status
The allocation of shares to applicants after an IPO closes. In oversubscribed retail categories allotment works like a lottery by lots, so applying with more lots raises the odds only up to the subscription limit.
Related: Lot Size, Listing Gains
Also called: spin-off, hive-off
Splitting one listed company into two or more separately listed businesses, with existing holders receiving shares of the new entity on a record date. Each part is then valued on its own business instead of a conglomerate discount.
Related: Record Date, Face Value
Also called: takeover offer
A mandatory offer to public shareholders when an acquirer crosses the takeover-code threshold, to buy at least 26 per cent more at a regulated price. It gives minority holders an exit at the change of control.
Related: Securities and Exchange Board of India, Promoter Holding
Contracts on a future price: how traders hedge, and what the positioning numbers mean.
Also called: futures, F&O
An agreement to buy or sell an underlying at a fixed price on a future date. Positions are marked to market daily, so losses are paid as they accrue, and leverage means a small adverse move consumes a large part of the margin.
Related: Options Contract, Open Interest, Expiry Day
Also called: option, derivatives
A contract giving the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell the underlying at a strike price before expiry. The buyer pays a premium and risks only that premium; the seller collects it and carries the open-ended risk.
Related: Call Option, Put Option, Implied Volatility
Also called: CE
The right to buy the underlying at the strike price. A call buyer profits when the price rises above the strike by more than the premium paid, which is why calls are the bullish leg of most option strategies.
Related: Put Option, Strike Price, Premium
Also called: PE
The right to sell the underlying at the strike price. Puts are bought as insurance on a portfolio or as a direct bearish position, and put buying is what typically lifts the volatility index.
Related: Call Option, India VIX, Hedging
Also called: exercise price
The price at which an option can be exercised. Options are described as in the money, at the money or out of the money relative to the underlying, and that distance decides the premium.
Related: Call Option, Put Option, Premium
Also called: option price
The price paid by an option buyer to the seller. It has an intrinsic part, from how far the strike is already in the money, and a time part, which decays as expiry approaches.
Related: Strike Price, Implied Volatility, Expiry Day
Also called: OI, outstanding contracts
The number of derivative contracts still outstanding. Rising open interest with a rising price is read as fresh long build-up; rising open interest with a falling price as short build-up, which is why the two are read together.
Related: Futures Contract, Rollover, Short Selling
Also called: IV
The volatility the market is paying for, backed out of an option price. Higher implied volatility means costlier premiums for the same strike, so a position can be right on direction and still lose money if volatility collapses.
Related: India VIX, Premium, Options Contract
Also called: roll, carry forward
Carrying a derivatives position into the next expiry instead of settling it. A high rollover percentage in a stock is read as traders expecting the trend or the move to continue.
Related: Expiry Day, Open Interest, Futures Contract
Also called: F&O expiry
The last trading day of a derivatives contract, when unsettled positions must be squared off or rolled. Expiry sessions are volatile because of the premium at stake and the unwinding of hedges.
Related: Rollover, Premium, Open Interest
Also called: insurance, hedge
Taking a position that offsets the risk of another. A holder can buy index puts to cap downside without selling the underlying, which is what makes derivatives useful to long-term investors rather than only to traders.
Related: Put Option, Arbitrage, Futures Contract
Also called: PCR
Put open interest or volume divided by the corresponding call figure. A very high ratio means crowded put buying, which contrarians read as fear near a bottom, and a very low one as complacency near a top.
Related: Open Interest, Implied Volatility
Also called: options pain, max pain strike
The strike at which the most outstanding options expire worthless, costing option buyers the most in aggregate. Expiry sessions often gravitate towards it as writers defend the level where they keep the most premium.
Related: Expiry Day, Open Interest
Also called: MTM, daily settlement
Settling futures and margin positions to the day closing price every evening, with losses collected and profits credited daily. It is why leverage feels painless until the first adverse close, when cash is actually demanded.
Related: Futures Contract, Expiry Day
Also called: SPAN, upfront margin
The exchange-mandated minimum margin for a derivatives position, computed from risk scenarios on the portfolio. Brokers must collect it upfront, so position size in futures and options is decided by SPAN long before conviction enters the picture.
Related: Futures Contract, Premium
Also called: cash-futures spread
The futures price minus the spot price of the same underlying. A positive basis means futures trade at a premium, usually from carry cost, and its behaviour into expiry is what cash-futures arbitrage lives on.
Related: Arbitrage, Futures Contract
The numbers behind a price: what a company earns, owns and owes.
Also called: P/E, PE ratio
The market price divided by earnings per share: how many rupees a buyer pays for one rupee of annual profit. It is only comparable within an industry, and a low reading can mean either value or a market expectation of falling profits.
Related: Earnings Per Share, Price-to-Book Ratio
Also called: EPS
Net profit divided by the number of shares outstanding. It is the denominator of the price-to-earnings ratio, and it rises on its own after a buyback because the share count falls.
Related: Price-to-Earnings Ratio, Profit After Tax, Buyback
Also called: P/B, PB ratio
Market price divided by book value per share. It is the standard lens for banks and lenders, where the balance sheet is the business, and a sustained discount to book is the market saying it does not trust the asset quality.
Related: Book Value Per Share, Return on Equity
Also called: ROE
Net profit as a percentage of shareholders equity: what the company earns on owner capital. It can be flattered by debt, so it is read alongside leverage rather than on its own.
Related: Return on Capital Employed, Debt-to-Equity Ratio, Price-to-Book Ratio
Also called: ROCE
Operating profit as a percentage of total capital employed, including debt. Because it counts borrowed money too, it compares capital efficiency across companies with different balance sheets, which ROE cannot.
Related: Return on Equity, EBITDA, Debt-to-Equity Ratio
Also called: operating profit
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation: profit from operations before financing and accounting charges. It is a rough proxy for operating cash generation, and analysts strip it further to adjusted EBITDA for one-off items.
Related: Profit After Tax, Return on Capital Employed
Also called: PAT, net profit, bottom line
The profit left after all expenses, interest and tax: the number reported in the headline and used for earnings per share. It is the cleanest single measure of what belongs to shareholders in a period.
Related: EBITDA, Earnings Per Share
Also called: D/E, leverage
Total debt divided by shareholders equity. It shows how much of the business is funded by borrowing, and it is the first number to check before crediting a high return on equity to management skill.
Related: Return on Equity, Working Capital, Interest Coverage Ratio
Also called: debt servicing
Operating profit divided by interest expense: how many times over the company can pay its interest from operations. A cover below about two times is a warning that a bad year could put the debt at risk.
Related: Debt-to-Equity Ratio, EBITDA
Also called: current assets, net current assets
Current assets minus current liabilities: the short-term funds a business runs on. A rising receivable cycle that keeps working capital stretched is the usual reason a profitable company still runs short of cash.
Related: Debt-to-Equity Ratio, Profit After Tax
Also called: price earnings growth
The price-to-earnings ratio divided by the annual earnings growth rate. It asks whether growth justifies the multiple: around one is conventionally fair, well above one means the buyer is paying up for growth that must actually arrive.
Related: Price-to-Earnings Ratio, Earnings Per Share
Also called: FCF
Operating cash flow minus capital expenditure: the cash a business generates after maintaining itself. It is what funds dividends, buybacks and debt repayment, so persistent profits without free cash flow invite scepticism.
Related: EBITDA, Profit After Tax
Also called: EBIT margin
Operating profit as a percentage of revenue: how much of each rupee of sales survives operating costs. Expanding margins mean pricing power or scale; shrinking ones mean competition or cost pressure, whatever the revenue growth says.
Related: EBITDA, Profit After Tax
Also called: enterprise multiple
Enterprise value, which is market capitalisation plus debt minus cash, divided by EBITDA. Unlike the price-to-earnings ratio it compares buyers total outlay across companies with different debt, which is why acquirers quote it.
Related: EBITDA, Debt-to-Equity Ratio
Also called: payout, distribution ratio
The share of net profit paid out as dividends. A consistently high payout suits income seekers but leaves little for growth, while a near-zero payout from a mature cash cow raises questions about what the cash is for.
Related: Dividend Yield, Profit After Tax
Rates, prices and the official numbers that set the backdrop for every stock.
Also called: policy rate, RBI rate
The rate at which the Reserve Bank of India lends short-term funds to banks against government securities. It is the main policy rate, and a change in it moves lending and deposit rates, bond yields and rate-sensitive sectors first.
Related: Reverse Repo Rate, Cash Reserve Ratio, Monetary Policy Committee
Also called: SDF, liquidity absorption
The rate at which the RBI absorbs surplus cash from banks. It sits at the floor of the liquidity corridor, alongside the marginal standing facility at the ceiling, and sets the very short end of the money market.
Related: Repo Rate, Liquidity, Open Market Operations
Also called: CRR
The share of deposits that banks must hold with the RBI as cash, on which they earn nothing. Raising it takes money out of the lending system without changing the policy rate, which is why CRR changes are announced as liquidity measures.
Related: Statutory Liquidity Ratio, Repo Rate, Open Market Operations
Also called: SLR
The share of deposits banks must hold in government securities, cash or other approved assets. SLR holding is what makes banks the natural buyers of government bonds, and a cut releases funds for lending.
Related: Cash Reserve Ratio, Bond Yield
Also called: OMO
The RBI buying or selling government securities in the market to inject or drain durable liquidity. Unlike a repo, an OMO purchase stays in the system, which is why larger OMO plans move bond yields more than a rate decision sometimes does.
Related: Repo Rate, Bond Yield, Cash Reserve Ratio
Also called: MPC, RBI policy
The six-member committee that sets the policy repo rate, with a mandate to hold consumer price inflation at four per cent with a two per cent band either way. Meetings are six times a year and the vote split is read for the direction of travel.
Related: Repo Rate, CPI Inflation
Also called: retail inflation, consumer price index
The year-on-year rise in the consumer price index, weighted towards food and fuel. It is the retail inflation number the RBI targets, so a hot or cool print moves rate expectations more than any other data release.
Related: WPI Inflation, Monetary Policy Committee
Also called: wholesale price index
The year-on-year rise in wholesale prices, covering goods trade at the producer level. It typically leads retail inflation, and a widening gap between the two tells you which part of the chain is absorbing the pressure.
Related: CPI Inflation
Also called: GDP, GDP growth
The market value of everything produced in the economy in a period, reported quarterly and revised later. Equity revenues track nominal GDP over time, so the quarterly print and the revisions both matter.
Related: Fiscal Deficit, CPI Inflation
Also called: budget deficit
The gap between what the government spends and what it collects, expressed as a share of GDP. A higher deficit means more borrowing, which competes with companies for funds and pressures bond yields.
Related: Bond Yield, Gross Domestic Product
Also called: G-sec yield, 10-year yield
The return a buyer earns by holding a bond to maturity, moving inversely to its price. The ten-year government yield is the benchmark for every other borrowing cost in the economy, from home loans to corporate paper.
Related: Open Market Operations, Fiscal Deficit, Repo Rate
Also called: forex reserves, RBI reserves
The RBI holdings of foreign currency assets, gold, special drawing rights and its reserve position with the International Monetary Fund. Reserves fund intervention to steady the rupee, so a sharp weekly fall is read as the central bank defending the currency.
Related: FII Activity, Bond Yield
Also called: SEBI, market regulator
The statutory regulator for Indian securities markets, covering disclosures, insider trading, takeovers and investor protection. Its circulars decide listing rules, and an enforcement order on a stock is a re-rating event in itself.
Related: Foreign Portfolio Investor, Insider Trading
Also called: unpublished price sensitive information
Trading on material information about a company that is not yet public, which SEBI prohibits under its insider trading regulations. Disclosure of promoter and key-manager trades is part of the same framework.
Related: Securities and Exchange Board of India, Promoter Holding
Also called: CAD
The shortfall when what the country imports in goods, services and transfers exceeds what it exports. A widening deficit pressures the rupee and the bond market, which is why the monthly trade print moves both.
Related: Foreign Exchange Reserves, Fiscal Deficit
Also called: LAF
The RBI framework of overnight repo borrowing and reverse repo absorption through which day-to-day liquidity is managed. The repo rate and the absorption rate together form the corridor that pins the very short end of money-market rates.
Related: Repo Rate, Reverse Repo Rate
Also called: MSF
The overnight window through which banks borrow from the RBI at a penal rate above the repo rate, against approved securities. It sits at the ceiling of the liquidity corridor and is used only when normal funding runs short.
Related: Repo Rate, Statutory Liquidity Ratio
Also called: MCLR
The internal benchmark banks used to price most loans from 2016, built from their own cost of funds. New retail and small-business floating loans have largely moved to external benchmarks since, but the existing loan book still reprices on it.
Related: Repo Rate, Bond Yield
Also called: term structure
The line joining bond yields across maturities, normally rising with tenure. A flattening or inverted curve means the market expects slower growth or rate cuts, which is why equity desks watch the bond market shape.
Related: Bond Yield, Repo Rate
Chart vocabulary: the levels, averages and signals quoted in market reports.
Also called: S/R levels, demand zone
Price levels where buying or selling has repeatedly emerged, so the market pauses there. A break of support on heavy volume is treated as a change in trend; a failure to break resistance as a ceiling.
Related: Moving Average, Breakout
Also called: DMA, SMA, EMA
The average closing price over a chosen number of sessions, redrawn each day. The 50-day and 200-day averages are the widely watched trend lines, and price holding above the 200-day is the common definition of a long-term uptrend.
Related: Golden Cross and Death Cross, Support and Resistance
Also called: golden cross, death cross
A golden cross is the 50-day moving average crossing above the 200-day, taken as a bullish trend signal; a death cross is the reverse. Both are lagging signals, which is why they confirm a trend rather than anticipate it.
Related: Moving Average, Relative Strength Index
Also called: RSI
A momentum oscillator between zero and one hundred, comparing average gains with average losses over the lookback period. Above 70 is commonly read as overbought and below 30 as oversold, though strong trends can stay stretched for weeks.
Related: Moving Average Convergence Divergence, Moving Average
Also called: MACD
A momentum indicator built from the difference between two moving averages, plotted with a signal line. A cross of the signal line is the most quoted reading, and divergences with price are treated as warnings.
Related: Relative Strength Index, Moving Average
Also called: breakdown, range break
A decisive move out of a price range that has contained the stock, usually on expanded volume. Traders judge a breakout by whether the level then holds as support, which is why the retest matters more than the first move.
Related: Support and Resistance, Volume
Also called: SL, trailing stop
A pre-set exit level that caps the loss on a position, and the only part of a trade that is decided before emotion is involved. A trailing stop moves with the price to protect an unrealised gain.
Related: Risk-Reward Ratio, Short Selling
Also called: R:R, risk reward
The potential gain on a trade divided by the potential loss if the stop is hit. A strategy can be right less than half the time and still make money at a good ratio, which is why position sizing follows the ratio rather than conviction.
Also called: shorting, short position
Selling shares that are not owned, in order to buy them back lower and profit from the fall. Retail investors can do it intraday in the cash segment, and beyond that through derivatives, which is why short build-up is tracked in the futures data.
Related: Open Interest, Futures Contract
Also called: arb, cash-futures spread
Profiting from the same asset trading at two prices, most commonly cash versus futures near expiry. Arbitrage is low-risk by construction, so returns are thin and volumes large, which is why arbitrage positions show up as unusual delivery volumes.
Related: Delivery Percentage, Hedging
Also called: traded quantity, turnover
The number of shares traded in a session, used to judge conviction behind a price move. A breakout or breakdown on unusually high volume is treated as real; the same move on thin volume as noise.
Related: Breakout, Delivery Percentage, Liquidity
Also called: volatility bands
A moving average with two bands set a fixed number of standard deviations away, widening in volatile phases and pinching in calm ones. A squeeze of the bands is read as stored energy for the next sharp move, in either direction.
Related: Moving Average, Support and Resistance
Also called: volume weighted average price
The average traded price of the session weighted by volume at each level. Institutions benchmark executions against it: buying below VWAP counts as a good fill, which is why the line acts as intraday support and resistance.
Related: Volume, Delivery Percentage
Also called: indecision candle
A candlestick whose open and close are nearly equal, leaving a small body with wicks on either side. It signals that neither buyers nor sellers held the session, so after a long run it is read as a possible pause or reversal.
Related: Support and Resistance, Breakout
Also called: Fib levels
Horizontal levels drawn at fixed fractions of a prior move, commonly around 38, 50 and 62 per cent, where pullbacks are expected to pause. They work to the extent traders collectively watch them, which in liquid index futures is most of the time.
Related: Support and Resistance, Breakout
Also called: ATR
The average of recent session ranges including gaps, expressed in price or points. It measures how much a stock normally moves, so stops and targets are set as multiples of it rather than as round numbers.
Related: Stop Loss, Implied Volatility
Gold, crude and the rupee: the physical and currency markets that move alongside equities.
Also called: yellow metal, safe haven
The oldest hedge in Indian portfolios, held as jewellery, coins, sovereign bonds and exchange futures. It typically rises when equities or the rupee wobble, and loan-against-gold demand makes its price a credit-market event too.
Also called: white metal
A precious metal with large industrial demand alongside investment buying, which makes it more volatile than gold. It broadly follows gold direction with bigger swings, and both trade as futures on the domestic commodity exchange.
Also called: Brent, global oil benchmark
The North Sea crude benchmark against which most of the world oil, including India imports, is priced. A rising Brent quote feeds directly into fuel prices, inflation expectations and the import bill.
Related: USDINR, Spot Price
Also called: rupee-dollar, dollar-rupee
The rupees-per-dollar exchange rate, the most watched currency pair in India. A falling rupee raises imported inflation and foreign selling pressure, which is why RBI intervention headlines move equities too.
Related: Foreign Exchange Reserves, Gold
Also called: Multi Commodity Exchange
India commodity derivatives exchange, where bullion, metals and energy futures trade. Evening-session moves here often preview the next morning equity sentiment for resource-linked stocks.
Related: Gold, Spot Price
Also called: cash price
The price for immediate delivery, as opposed to a futures price for later delivery. The gap between spot and futures is the basis that hedgers and arbitrageurs trade on.
Related: Futures Contract, MCX
Pooled investing: how funds are priced, bought and charged.
Also called: NAV
The per-unit market value of a mutual fund, computed daily from its holdings minus expenses. You always buy and sell at the NAV, never at a market quote, which is the basic difference from an exchange-traded fund.
Related: Expense Ratio, Exchange Traded Fund
Also called: ETF
A basket of securities that trades on the exchange through the session like a share. It tracks an index or theme at low cost, though thinly traded ETFs can quote away from their true value during stress.
Related: Net Asset Value, Index Fund
Also called: passive fund
A mutual fund that simply replicates an index instead of picking stocks. Costs stay low because there is no active management, and returns stay close to the benchmark by construction.
Related: Exchange Traded Fund, Nifty 50
Also called: SIP
A fixed automatic investment into a fund at regular intervals. It averages the purchase cost across market levels, which is why domestic SIP inflows are tracked as the backbone of local institutional buying.
Related: Net Asset Value, Index Fund
Also called: tax-saving fund, 80C
An equity fund whose investments qualify for tax deduction with a three-year lock-in, the shortest among tax-saving options. The lock-in forces a minimum holding period, which suits equity investing temperamentally as well as fiscally.
Related: Systematic Investment Plan, Net Asset Value
Also called: TER, fund cost
The annual percentage a fund charges on assets for management and operations. It compounds against the investor every year, so a two-percentage-point gap is the difference between beating and trailing a benchmark over a decade.
Related: Net Asset Value, Exchange Traded Fund
The glossary explains the words; the dashboards show the numbers. Every definition links to the page where that term does its work.
