What It Means
NSE (National Stock Exchange) is India's largest stock exchange by trading volume, where most equity, futures, and options contracts referenced across this glossary are actually traded.
How It Works
NSE runs India's benchmark index, Nifty 50, and hosts the bulk of the country's F&O trading volume, especially in index options. It operates alongside the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange), India's older exchange, and most large companies list on both — a stock's price on NSE and BSE stays nearly identical at any given moment because of arbitrage between the two, though minor, fleeting differences do show up. Brokers route your order to whichever exchange offers the better price or higher liquidity for that specific stock or contract, usually without you needing to choose manually.