Sensex
^BSESN
Key Statistics
About Sensex
By Liveworldmarket Editorial Team · Last reviewed 29 June 2026
BSE Sensex — India's Oldest Equity Benchmark
The S&P BSE Sensex (Sensitive Index, commonly the 'Sensex') is the oldest equity benchmark in India and the headline index for the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). It comprises the 30 largest and most-actively-traded stocks listed on the BSE — a curated basket maintained by the BSE's index committee. Like its global peer the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Sensex was originally designed with a small constituent count to make daily calculations tractable in a pre-computer era; unlike the Dow, the Sensex transitioned to free-float market-cap weighting in September 2003, making it methodologically more modern than the Dow.
Sectorally the Sensex mirrors the Nifty 50 fairly closely — financials (~30%), IT services (~16%), oil & gas (~12%), consumer goods (~10%), automobiles (~6%) — although the smaller 30-stock basket means single-stock concentration is higher. Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys and TCS together account for roughly 55% of total Sensex weight in 2026.
History & contract origins
The Sensex was launched on 1 January 1986 with a base value of 100 set retroactively to 1978-79 fiscal year. It is India's oldest continuously-calculated equity index. The Sensex's history closely tracks India's broader economic liberalisation story: it was below 1,000 throughout the 1980s, crossed 1,000 in 1990, crashed -57% during the 1992 Harshad Mehta scam, recovered through the late 1990s, suffered a -50% drawdown during the 2000 dot-com bust, and then began the historic 2003-2008 bull run that took the index from 3,000 to 21,000.
Sensex round-number milestones: 5,000 (October 1999), 10,000 (February 2006), 20,000 (October 2007), 30,000 (April 2017), 50,000 (January 2021), 60,000 (September 2021), 75,000 (April 2024). The fastest 10,000-point gain came between 50,000 and 60,000 (just 8 months). Major drawdowns: 1992 (-57%), 2000 (-50%), 2008 (-61%), 2020 (-38% in 4 weeks), 2022 (-18%).
Trading hours & session layout
BSE shares the same trading hours as NSE (both regulated by SEBI under a common framework). In IST:
| Pre-open session | 09:00 - 09:15 IST |
| Normal trading | 09:15 - 15:30 IST |
| Closing session | 15:30 - 15:40 IST |
| Special evening session: Muhurat Trading | Diwali evening — 1 hour, dates vary |
Holiday calendar (typical annual closures)
Listed below are the major scheduled closures for the underlying exchange. Exact dates shift year-to-year — always verify against the exchange's official calendar before holding overnight positions across a holiday boundary.
| Holiday | Typical date |
|---|---|
| Republic Day | 26 January |
| Mahashivratri | Variable |
| Holi | Variable in March |
| Good Friday | Variable |
| Ambedkar Jayanti | 14 April |
| Maharashtra Day | 1 May |
| Bakri Id | Variable |
| Independence Day | 15 August |
| Ganesh Chaturthi | Variable |
| Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti | 2 October |
| Dussehra | Variable |
| Diwali (Muhurat trading only) | Variable |
| Guru Nanak Jayanti | Variable |
| Christmas | 25 December |
How to read this tape
Read the Sensex alongside the Nifty 50, not as a separate signal. The two indices share 27+ common constituents and move with correlation > 0.98 on a daily basis. Meaningful divergences are rare and usually arise from corporate-action timing differences or single-stock events specific to a Sensex-only constituent. For institutional purposes, Nifty is the preferred benchmark; for retail / mainstream media, Sensex remains the headline number.
Diwali Muhurat trading is a uniquely Indian tradition — the BSE conducts a brief one-hour evening session on Diwali day for symbolic auspicious trades. The Muhurat session is largely ceremonial; meaningful volume is minimal but participation is high among retail investors.
Frequently asked questions
What does 'Sensex' stand for?
Sensitive Index — an abbreviation coined in 1989 by Deepak Mohoni, a financial commentator. The name has stuck for almost 40 years.
Why does the Sensex have only 30 stocks?
Historical convention — when the index was launched in 1986, manual daily calculation of a larger basket was operationally difficult. The 30-stock structure was modelled on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Modern recalculation could easily handle hundreds of constituents, but tradition has kept the basket compact.
Is the Sensex better than the Nifty 50?
Neither is objectively 'better' — they measure essentially the same thing with high overlap. Nifty 50 is broader (50 vs. 30 names) and slightly more diversified. Sensex is more recognisable in media. Most institutional funds benchmark to Nifty; retail mutual funds often use either.
What is Diwali Muhurat trading?
A symbolic one-hour evening trading session held on Diwali day each year. Traders place small token trades for good fortune in the upcoming Hindu calendar year. Volumes are typically very low; the session is more cultural than substantive.
Can foreigners invest in BSE-listed stocks?
Yes, via the FPI route with SEBI registration. Most large BSE-listed stocks are also NSE-listed, so foreign capital typically goes through NSE for liquidity reasons.
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Editorial article. Information only — not investment advice. Read our Risk Disclaimer before acting on any market data shown here.