BSE Sensex

The BSE Sensex (Sensitive Index) is India's oldest and most iconic stock market benchmark — a free-float market capitalisation-weighted index comprising the 30 largest, most actively traded, and financially sound companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Launched in 1986 with a base value of 100 as of April 1, 1979, the Sensex has crossed 80,000 points by 2024 — delivering a CAGR of approximately 15% to 16% over four decades of Indian economic and corporate development. The Sensex is calculated and maintained by Asia Index Private Limited (a joint venture between S&P Dow Jones Indices and BSE), using the free-float market capitalisation methodology where only the publicly tradeable portion of each constituent's shares determines its index weight. The 30 Sensex constituents are reviewed semi-annually — selected based on market capitalisation, financial performance, liquidity, and sector representation — including India's largest companies from banking, IT, energy, FMCG, automobiles, and pharmaceuticals. The Sensex serves as the primary barometer of Indian equity market performance for retail investors, media, and international observers — its daily movement is closely tracked globally as a proxy for India's economic health and investor sentiment. Sensex ETFs and index funds offer investors passive exposure to India's blue-chip large-cap companies, while Sensex futures and options on BSE's derivatives platform provide hedging and speculative instruments for institutional and sophisticated retail participants.