What is the Nifty 50, in plain words?
You hear 'Nifty is up' or 'Sensex fell' on the news every day. Here's what that actually refers to.
It's a scoreboard, not a company
The Nifty 50 is an index — a single number that tracks 50 of the largest companies listed on India's National Stock Exchange. You can't buy 'the Nifty' directly; it's a summary, like a cricket scoreboard for the market's biggest players.
What it tells you
When the Nifty rises, it broadly means those 50 big companies are worth more on average that day. It's a quick gauge of how the large, established part of the Indian market is doing.
Sensex is the same idea
The Sensex is the equivalent scoreboard for 30 large companies on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Different list, same concept — a single number summarising a group of big companies.
Ready to start investing?
You'll need a demat account to buy any share in India.