What is the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)?

What is the Bombay Stock Exchange? BSE is one of the biggest stock exchanges in the world and the oldest in Asia, that was established in 1875 as the Native Share and Stock Brokers' Association.

Key takeaways:

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is the oldest stock exchange in Asia, founded in 1875, and one of the most important financial markets in India.
The BSE facilitates the trading of various securities such as equities, derivatives, and bonds.
The BSE has adopted modern technologies and trading platforms to improve transparency, speed, and efficiency of trading.
As a leading stock exchange, the BSE sets market trends and influences investment decisions in the Indian economy.

Where have you heard about the Bombay Stock Exchange?

The Bombay Stock Exchange has won a number of awards for its work, including the Skoch Achiever Award 2016 for SME Enablement and Best IT Implementation Award 2016 in the 'Most Complex Project Category' by PCQuest.

What you need to know about the Bombay Stock Exchange

The Bombay Stock Exchange was founded as the Native Share and Stock Brokers Association in 1855 by Premchand Roychand, a highly influential 19th Century Bombay businessman.

Now it is the 11th largest stock exchange in the world, with over 5,500 listed companies and a 2016 market cap of $1.43 trillion.

The BSE was the first stock exchange that the Indian Government recognised under the 1957 Securities Contracts Regulation Act. In 1986 the exchange launched the BSE SENSEX index,, to measure performance. Commonly known as the BSE 30 index it is India's most important stock market index. The launch of the BSE 30 led to the development of its derivatives market which trades SENSEX futures contracts.

In 1995, the Bombay Stock Exchange moved to an electronic trading system called BSE On-Line Trading (BOLT). International investors can trade through the BSE via its internet trading system, BSEWEBx.co.in.