- Sensex
- The BSE's benchmark index: 30 large, well-established companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
- Nifty 50
- The NSE's benchmark index of 50 large companies across the main sectors of the economy.
- Bull market
- A stretch of time when prices rise broadly and buyers are confident.
- Bear market
- A stretch of broadly falling prices, often described as a fall of 20% or more from a recent high.
- IPO
- An initial public offering: the first time a company sells its shares to the public and lists on an exchange.
- Demat account
- Holds your shares in electronic form. In India you need one, with a trading account, to buy shares.
- P/E ratio
- Share price divided by earnings per share: how much investors pay for each rupee of profit.
- Dividend
- A share of a company's profit paid out to its shareholders.
- Stop-loss
- An order that closes a trade when the price reaches a level you set, to limit a loss.
- Volatility
- How much, and how quickly, a price moves up and down.
- SIP
- A systematic investment plan: putting a fixed amount into a mutual fund at regular intervals.
- Market cap
- Share price times the number of shares: what the market values a company at.
- Asset allocation
- How your money is split between equity, debt, gold and cash.
- Diversification
- Spreading money across different investments, so one fall doesn't sink the whole portfolio.
- Rebalancing
- Bringing a portfolio back to its target mix after market moves have shifted it.
- Risk profile
- How much ups and downs you can accept, set by your goals, time frame and finances.