Stock Market Basics
The foundations. How Indian markets work, when they're open, and what happens behind every trade you place.
What is the stock market?
A plain-English intro to shares, exchanges, and how a market for them actually works.
BSE vs NSE: India's two exchanges
Why both exist, what's different about them, and which one your trades actually go through.
Sensex vs Nifty: The benchmark indices
What an index is, how Sensex and Nifty are built, and what their numbers actually tell you.
How stock prices actually move
The order book in plain language: bids, asks, and why prices tick up or down second by second.
Bull market vs bear market
What bull and bear actually mean, how each cycle behaves, and how to spot the turn.
Circuit limits: Upper and lower
The brakes that stop a stock from running away, how they're set, and why they exist.
Pre-market session in India: Full guide
The 9:00 to 9:15 window before regular trading, how price discovery happens there, and how to use it.
Post-market session: What happens
The 3:40 to 4:00 close session, how AMOs work, and what's possible after 3:30.
Trading holidays in India 2026
Full NSE and BSE holiday calendar for 2026, with settlement holidays called out separately.
T+1 settlement explained
What 'your trade settles tomorrow' actually means, and why India moved to T+1.
Rolling settlement in Indian markets
The continuous settlement cycle that replaced the old account-period system.
Auction market: What triggers it
The auction window that fixes broken trades, when it kicks in, and what happens there.