Introduction to stock exchange

A stock exchange is an entity that provides services for stock brokers and traders to trade stocks, bonds, and other securities. Stock exchanges also provide facilities for issue and redemption of securities and other financial instruments, and capital events including the payment of income and dividends. Securities traded on a stock exchange include shares issued by companies, unit trusts, derivatives, pooled investment products and bonds. To be able to trade a security on a certain stock exchange, it must be listed there. Usually, there is a central location at least for record keeping, but trade is increasingly less linked to such a physical place, as modern markets are electronic networks, which gives them advantages of increased speed and reduced cost of transactions. Trade on an exchange is by members only. The initial offering of stocks and bonds to investors is by definition done in the primary market and subsequent trading is done in the secondary market. A stock exchange is often the most important component of a stock market. Supply and demand in stock markets is driven by various factors that, as in all free markets, affect the price of stocks (see stock valuation). There is usually no compulsion to issue stock via the stock exchange itself, nor must stock be subsequently traded on the exchange. Such trading is said to be off exchange or over-the-counter. This is the usual way that derivatives and bonds are traded. Increasingly, stock exchanges are part of a global market for securities.

History Securities markets took centuries to develop.[1] The idea of debt dates back to the ancient world, as evidenced for example by ancientMesopotamian clay tablets recording interest-bearing loans. There is little consensus among scholars as to when corporate stock was first traded. Some see the key event as the Dutch East India Company's founding in 1602, while others point to earlier developments. Economist Ulrike Malmendier of the University of California at Berkeley argues that a share market existed as far back as ancient Rome. In the Roman Republic, which existed for centuries before the Empire was founded, there were societates publicanorum, organizations of contractors or leaseholders who performed temple-building and other services for the government. One such service was the feeding of geese on the Capitoline Hill as a reward to the birds after their honking warned of a Gallic invasion in 390 B.C. Participants in such organizations had partesor shares, a concept mentioned various times by the statesman and orator Cicero. In one speech, Cicero mentions "shares that

had a very high price at the time." Such evidence, in Malmendier's view, suggests the instruments were tradable, with fluctuating values based on an organization's success. The societas declined into obscurity in the time of the emperors, as most of their services were taken over by direct agents of the state. Tradable bonds as a commonly used type of security were a more recent innovation, spearheaded by the Italian city-states of the late medievaland early Renaissance periods. In 1171, the authorities of the Republic of Venice, concerned about their war-depleted treasury, drew a forced loan from the citizenry. Such debt, known as prestiti, paid 5 percent interest per year and had an indefinite maturity date. Initially regarded with suspicion, it came to be seen as a valuable investment that could be bought and sold. The bond market had begun. From 1262 to 1379, Venice never missed an interest payment, solidifying the credibility of the new instruments. Other Italian city-states such as Florence and Genoa became bond issuers as well, often as a means of paying for warfare. Bonds were traded widely in Italy and beyond, a business facilitated by bankers such as the Medicis. War between Venice and Genoa resulted in suspension of prestiti interest payments in the early 1380s, and when the market was restored, it was at a lower interest rate. Venice's bonds traded at steep discounts for decades thereafter. Other blows to financial stability resulted from the Hundred Years War, which caused monarchs of France and England to default on debts to Italian banks, and the Black Death, which ravaged much of Europe. Still, the idea of debt as a tradable investment endured. As with bonds, the concept of stock developed gradually. Some scholars place its origins as far back as ancient Rome. Partnership agreements dividing ownership into shares date back at least to the 13th century, again with Italian city-states in the vanguard. Such arrangements, however, typically extended only to a handful of people and were of limited duration, as with shipping partnerships that applied only to a single sea voyage.

House Ter Beurze in Bruges, Belgium.

The forefront of commercial innovation eventually shifted from Italy to northern Europe. The Hanseatic League, an alliance of mercantile towns such as Bruges and Antwerp, operated counting houses to expedite trade. The term "bourse," which has become synonymous with "stock market," arose in Bruges, either from a sign outside a trading center showing one or a few purses (bursa is Latin for bag) or because merchants gathered at the house of a man named Van der Burse; nobody's quite sure. By the late 1500s, British merchants were experimenting with joint-stock companies intended to operate on an ongoing basis; one such was the Muscovy Company, which sought to wrest trade with Russia away from Hanseatic dominance. The next big step was in Amsterdam. In 1602, the Dutch East India Company was formed as a joint-stock company with shares that were readily tradable. The stock market had begun.

A bond issued by the Dutch East India Company, dating from 7 November 1623, for the amount of 2,400 florins. The Dutch East India Company, formed to build up the spice trade, operated as a colonial ruler in what's now Indonesia and beyond, a purview that included conducting military operations against recalcitrant natives and competing colonial powers. Control of the company was held tightly by its directors, with ordinary shareholders not having much influence on management or even access to the company's accounting statements. However, shareholders were rewarded well for their investment. The company paid an average dividend of over 16 percent per year from 1602 to 1650. Financial innovation in Amsterdam took many forms. In 1609, investors led by one Isaac Le Maire formed history's first bear syndicate, but their coordinated trading had only a modest impact in driving down share prices, which tended to be robust throughout the 17th century. By the 1620s, the company was expanding its securities issuance with the first use of corporate bonds.

The Dutch West India Company was formed in 1621, bringing a new issuer to the burgeoning securities market. Amsterdam's growth as a financial center survived the tulip mania of the 1630s, in which contracts for the delivery of flower bulbs soared wildly and then crashed. New techniques and instruments proliferated for securities as well as commodities, including options, repos and margin trading.[2] Joseph de la Vega, also known as Joseph Penso de la Vega and by other variations of his name, was an Amsterdam trader from a Spanish Jewish family and a prolific writer as well as a successful businessman in 17th-century Amsterdam. His 1688 book Confusion of Confusions explained the workings of the city's stock market. It was the earliest book about stock trading, taking the form of a dialogue between a merchant, a shareholder and a philosopher, the book described a market that was sophisticated but also prone to excesses, and de la Vega offered advice to his readers on such topics as the unpredictability of market shifts and the importance of patience in investment. The year that de la Vega published also brought an event that helped spread financial techniques and talent from Amsterdam to London. This was the "glorious revolution," in which Dutch ruler William of Orange also ascended to England's throne. William sought to modernize England's finances to pay for its wars, and thus the kingdom's first government bonds were issued in 1693 and the Bank of England was set up the following year. Soon thereafter, English joint-stock companies began going public.

NASDAQ was the first electronic stock exchange.

London's first stockbrokers, however, were barred from the old commercial center known as the Royal Exchange, reportedly because of their rude manners. Instead, the new trade was conducted from coffee houses along Exchange Alley. By 1698, a broker named John Castaing, operating out of Jonathan's Coffee House, was posting regular lists of stock and commodity prices. Those lists mark the beginning of the London Stock Exchange. One of history's greatest financial bubbles occurred in the next few decades. At the center of it were the South Sea Company, set up in 1711 to conduct English trade with South America, and the Mississippi Company, focused on commerce with France's Louisiana colony and touted by transplanted Scottish financier John Law, who was acting in effect as France's central banker. Investors snapped up shares in both, and whatever else was available. In 1720, at the height of the mania, there was even an offering of "a company for carrying out an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is." By the end of that same year, share prices were collapsing, as it became clear that expectations of imminent wealth from the Americas were overblown. In London, Parliament passed the Bubble Act, which stated that only royally chartered companies could issue public shares. In Paris, Law was stripped of office and fled the country. Stock trading was more limited and subdued in subsequent decades. Yet the market survived, and by the 1790s shares were being traded in the young United States. On February 8, 1971, NASDAQ, the world's first electronic stock exchange, started its operations.

Stock Market of India

Introduction Stock markets refer to a market place where investors can buy and sell stocks. The price at which each buying and selling transaction takes is determined by the market forces (i.e. demand and supply for a particular stock). Let us take an example for a better understanding of how market forces determine stock prices. ABC Co. Ltd. enjoys high investor confidence and there is an anticipation of an upward movement in its stock price. More and more people would want to buy this stock (i.e. high demand) and very few people will want to sell this stock at current market price (i.e. less supply). Therefore, buyers will have to bid a higher price for this stock to match the ask price from the seller which will increase the stock price of ABC Co. Ltd. On the contrary, if there are more sellers than buyers (i.e. high supply and low demand) for the stock of ABC Co. Ltd. in the market, its price will fall down. In earlier times, buyers and sellers used to assemble at stock exchanges to make a transaction but now with the dawn of IT, most of the operations are done electronically and the stock markets have become almost paperless. Now investors dont have to gather at the Exchanges, and can trade freely from their home or office over the phone or through Internet.

History of the Indian Stock Market - The Origin

One of the oldest stock markets in Asia, the Indian Stock Markets have a 200 years old history. 18th Century 1830's 1840's 1850's 1860's 1860-61 1862-63 1865

East India Company was the dominant institution and by end of the century, busuness in its loan securities gained full momentum

Business on corporate stocks and shares in Bank and Cotton presses started in Bombay. Trading list by the end of 1839 got broader Recognition from banks and merchants to about half a dozen brokers Rapid development of commercial enterprise saw brokerage business attracting more people into the business The number of brokers increased to 60 The American Civil War broke out which caused a stoppage of cotton supply from United States of America; marking the beginning of the "Share Mania" in India The number of brokers increased to about 200 to 250 A disastrous slump began at the end of the American Civil War (as an example, Bank of Bombay Share which had touched Rs. 2850 could only be sold at Rs. 87)

Pre-Independance Scenario - Establishment of Different Stock Exchanges 1874 1875 1880's 1894 1880 - 90's 1908 1920 1923 1934 1936 1937 With the rapidly developing share trading business, brokers used to gather at a street (now well known as "Dalal Street") for the purpose of transacting business. "The Native Share and Stock Brokers' Association" (also known as "The Bombay Stock Exchange") was established in Bombay Development of cotton mills industry and set up of many others Establishment of "The Ahmedabad Share and Stock Brokers' Association" Sharp increase in share prices of jute industries in 1870's was followed by a boom in tea stocks and coal "The Calcutta Stock Exchange Association" was formed

Madras witnessed boom and business at "The Madras Stock Exchange" was transacted with 100 brokers. When recession followed, number of brokers came down to 3 and the Exchange was closed down Establishment of the Lahore Stock Exchange Merger of the Lahoe Stock Exchange with the Punjab Stock Exchange Re-organisation and set up of the Madras Stock Exchange Limited (Pvt.) Limited led by

improvement in stock market activities in South India with establishment of new textile mills and plantation companies 1940 1944 1947 Uttar Pradesh Stock Exchange Limited and Nagpur Stock Exchange Limited was established Establishment of "The Hyderabad Stock Exchange Limited" "Delhi Stock and Share Brokers' Association Limited" and "The Delhi Stocks and Shares Exchange Limited" were established and later on merged into "The Delhi Stock Exchange Association Limited"

Post Independance Scenario The depression witnessed after the Independance led to closure of a lot of exchanges in the country. Lahore Estock Exchange was closed down after the partition of India, and later on merged with the Delhi Stock Exchange. Bnagalore Stock Exchange Limited was registered in 1957 and got recognition only by 1963. Most of the other Exchanges were in a miserable state till 1957 when they applied for recognition under Securities Contracts (Regulations) Act, 1956. The Exchanges that were recognized under the Act were: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Bombay Calcutta Madras Ahmedabad Delhi Hyderabad Bangalore Indore

Many more stock exchanges were established during 1980's, namely: 1. Cochin Stock Exchange (1980) 2. Uttar Pradesh Stock Exchange Association Limited (at Kanpur, 1982) 3. Pune Stock Exchange Limited (1982) 4. Ludhiana Stock Exchange Association Limited (1983) 5. Gauhati Stock Exchange Limited (1984) 6. Kanara Stock Exchange Limited (at Mangalore, 1985) 7. Magadh Stock Exchange Association (at Patna, 1986) 8. Jaipur Stock Exchange Limited (1989) 9. Bhubaneswar Stock Exchange Association Limited (1989) 10. Saurashtra Kutch Stock Exchange Limited (at Rajkot, 1989) 11. Vadodara Stock Exchange Limited (at Baroda, 1990) 12. Coimbatore Stock Exchange 13. Meerut Stock Exchange At present, there are twenty one recognized stock exchanges in India which does not include the Over The Counter Exchange of India Limited (OTCEI) and the National Stock Exchange of

India Limited (NSEIL). Government policies during 1980's also played a vital role in the development of the Indian Stock Markets. There was a sharp increase in number of Exchanges, listed companies as well as their capital, which is visible from the following table: S. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

As on 31st December No. of Stock Exchanges No. of Listed Cos. No. of Stock Issues of Listed Cos. Capital of Listed Cos. (Cr. Rs.) Market value of Capital of Listed Cos. (Cr. Rs.) Capital per Listed Cos. (4/2)(Lakh Rs.) Market Value of Capital per Listed Cos. (Lakh Rs.) (5/2) Appreciated value of Capital per Listed Cos. (Lak Rs.)

1946 1961 1971 1975 1980 1985 7 7 8 8 9 14

1991 20 6229

1995

22

1125 1203 1599 1552 2265 4344 1506 2111 2838 3230 3697 6174

8593

8967 11784

270 753 1812 2614 3973 9723 32041 59583

971 1292 2675 3273 6750 25302 110279 478121 24 63 113 168 175 224 582 260 514 1770 344

693

86 107 167 211 298 358 170 148 126 170

5564

803