Market Structure

How markets are organized and how they function.

19 terms in this category

A

After-Hours Trading

After-hours trading is buying or selling stocks outside the 9:30 AM–4:00 PM ET session, with lower liquidity, wider spreads, and elevated gap risk at the next open.

B

Bid-Ask Spread

The bid-ask spread is the difference between the highest price buyers will pay (bid) and the lowest price sellers will accept (ask).

BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange)

BSE is Asia's oldest stock exchange, located in Mumbai, and home to the Sensex index tracking 30 major Indian companies.

C

Circuit Breaker

Circuit breakers are automatic trading halts triggered when market indices fall by preset percentages, designed to prevent panic selling.

D

Dark Pool

A dark pool is a private exchange where large institutional orders are executed anonymously, hidden from public markets until after completion.

Demat Account

A demat (dematerialized) account holds your shares and securities in electronic form, replacing physical share certificates.

I

IPO (Initial Public Offering)

IPO (Initial Public Offering) is the process by which a private company sells shares to the public for the first time on a stock exchange.

L

Liquidity

Liquidity measures how easily an asset can be bought or sold without significantly affecting its price.

Lower Circuit

Lower circuit is the maximum price a stock can fall in a single trading day, set as a percentage band from the previous close.

M

Market Maker

A market maker is a firm that provides liquidity by continuously quoting buy and sell prices, profiting from the bid-ask spread.

N

NSE (National Stock Exchange)

NSE is India's largest stock exchange by trading volume, headquartered in Mumbai, and home to the benchmark Nifty 50 index.

O

Order Book

An order book displays all outstanding buy and sell orders for a security, showing market depth at different price levels.

P

Premarket Trading

Premarket trading is equity market activity between 4:00–9:30 AM ET, characterized by lower liquidity, wider spreads, and limit-order-only rules at most retail brokers.

S

SEBI

SEBI is India's statutory securities regulator, overseeing NSE, BSE, brokers, and FPIs — enforcing margin rules, circuit breakers, and position limits.

Settlement

Settlement is the process of transferring shares to buyer and money to seller after a trade, completed T+1 days after the trade in India.

Slippage

Slippage is the difference between the expected price of a trade and the actual price at which it executes.

Stock Float

Stock Float is the number of shares available for public trading, calculated as total shares outstanding minus restricted insider and locked-up shares.

Stock Split

Stock Split is a corporate action that increases shares outstanding by issuing additional shares proportionally, reducing the per-share price without changing market cap.

U

Upper Circuit

Upper circuit is the maximum price a stock can rise in a single trading day, set as a percentage band from the previous close.