S&P BSE Sensex 30

One of the first and most common questions that any entrant to the capital market asks is “What is the meaning of Sensex?” and is often followed by “What is the BSE Sensex today?”

Meaning of Sensex

S&P BSE SENSEX 30 or simply Sensex as it is popularly known is India’s first and most popular Index from the house of India’s oldest stock exchange the BSE – Bombay Stock Exchange. As the term index suggests, it is a single numerical representation for a number of its Index constituents. The Sensex 30 index number is often associated as the benchmark index and is used to infer the current state of the markets. It measures and tracks the stock movement of 30 index constituents known as the Sensex stocks. These Sensex 30 are highly liquid and come from different sectors of the Indian economy and collectively form the Sensex which is also assumed as barometer of the Stock Market. Simply said, the S&P BSE Sensex is the synonymous with the BSE itself. Ask any Gujarati in India, What’s the Bombay stock exchange live price and he’ll respond with the Live Quote of the Sensex.

How can one track the Sensex Live or figure the real time value for the BSE Sensex today?

Investors/Traders can track the Sensex Live on their online trading platforms. To track the BSE Sensex Live on the SAMCO Trading platforms, check out this article which explains how to add the Sensex and NIFTY indices in the SAMCO NEST Trader. You can get real time quotes of the Sensex on your trading terminals. Traders and Investors can also check the value of the Sensex live on the BSE India website however, there may be a short delay in the prices since they are not streamed live.

What’s been the history of the Sensex? and What does the Historical Chart of the Sensex Index look like?

A Rs. 100 investment in the Sensex Index in 1979 would have been worth Rs. 25,000 in March 2016, a Compounded Annual Growth Rate – CAGR return of 16% excluding dividends. This is a massive outperformance as compared to Gold and Fixed Deposits as an investment asset class. The Sensex returns over the past years since its inception are the perfect manifestation of why Equities are the best investment asset class as compared to any other asset class. The average dividend yield for the Sensex has been approximately 2% and the blended average for Sensex Returns has been approximately 18% i.e. 16% + 2%. The Sensex historical data can be found from the BSE website and the daily bhavcopy can also be downloaded from the SAMCO website. Sensex Index Historical Chart since inception – CAGR Returns of 16% excluding Dividends

How does the Sensex Live Calculation work? and How does the Sensex Quote Update each second?

The Index comprises of 30 companies across various sectors and their weights and ranks are based on the Free float market cap method. Each and every company in the Sensex has a weight assigned to it based on the Floating Market Capitalisation (and not the Total market capitalisation). The Index value is computed in real time based on the stock price movements of its index constituents. For E.g. a One Rupee move in HDFC Limited contributes to a 1.75 points move in the Sensex Live Quote. The sum of the contributions of all the 30 companies is what forms the change in the Sensex quote over yesterday’s closing price.

What’s the view for the Sensex this week?

SAMCO publishes its outlook on the Indian Stock Markets on weekly basis on its Stock Market Updates page. You can get the latest Sensex updates, news and Sensex view for the week ahead with the SAMCO Weekly Market Update.

How can one buy the Sensex to mirror the returns of the Sensex?

According to the World’s greatest Investor Warren Buffett, one of the best ways to consistently generate returns in the stock markets is buying the index regularly and using the principle of dollar cost averaging while buying the same. This approach can compound wealth for an average investor over long periods of time. But how can one buy the Sensex to get close to the Sensex returns? The easiest way is buying a Sensex ETF i.e. a Sensex Exchange Traded Fund which are linked to the Sensex. A few of the Sensex ETF’s which an investor can buy on the SAMCO Trading platform are as under

Security ID	BSE Scrip Code	ISIN	Description
KTKSENSEX	532985	INF373I01031	KOTAK MAHINDRA MUTUAL FUND
LICNETFSEN	539487	INF767K01OT5	LIC NOMURA MF EXCHANGE TRADED FUND – SENSEX
RELSENSEX	538683	INF204KA1UN7	Reliance Mutual Fund – R Shares Sensex ETF
SBISENSEX	535276	INF200K01VT2	SBI Mutual Fund – SBI Sensex ETF
SENSEXIWIN	555555	INF346A01034	ICICI Prudential Sensex iWIN ETF
UTISENSETF	539312	INF789FB1X58	UTI- SENSEX ETF

We’ve tried to cover all Sensex ETF’s in the list. However, this shall not be construed as a recommendation to buy the same and shall be used for education, information and reference purposes only. For more useful articles on trading, investing and market knowledge, visit our Knowledge Center section.