Level 1 · Basics

Shares, exchanges and indices

Start here. These are the building blocks behind every number on ScripLens: what a share is, where it trades, how an index is built, what market cap means and why prices are adjusted.
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What is a share?

In one lineA share is a small slice of ownership in a company. Its price moves with what buyers and sellers agree on.

A company divides its ownership into many equal units called shares. Holding shares gives you a claim on part of the company's profits and assets, and the company may pay part of its profit to holders as a dividend. Shares are not guaranteed to hold their value: the price can fall as well as rise, and an investor can lose the money put in.

Illustrative example: ownership share

A company has 1,00,000 shares in issue. If you hold 100 of them, you own 0.1% of the company.

If the company later issues more shares, the same 100 shares are a smaller percentage, even though you still hold them.

Exchange and trading hours

In one lineAn exchange is the marketplace where listed shares are bought and sold. NSE is one of India's two main exchanges.

A company whose shares are listed on the exchange is a listed company. ScripLens covers companies listed on NSE. Some companies are listed on both NSE and BSE, and some are listed only on BSE, which ScripLens does not yet cover.

Regular trading on NSE runs on weekdays from 9:15 am to 3:30 pm IST, except on exchange holidays. Prices move during those hours. ScripLens does not show live prices: it shows the figures recorded after the market closes, see end-of-day data below.

Indices

In one lineAn index is a calculated number that tracks a group of shares. You cannot buy an index level directly.

An index combines the prices of its member companies using a set rule, usually weighting each company by its market value. NIFTY 50, NSE's best-known index, follows 50 large companies. Its level rises when those companies rise on average, weighted by their size. Other indices cover different groups, such as sectors or smaller companies. On ScripLens, the Indices pages show each index's level, returns, constituents and published valuation figures.

Index returns on ScripLens are price returns: they exclude dividends, the same as the stock charts unless you choose the total-return view.

Price is not value

In one linePrice is what the last trade happened at. Value is an opinion about what a business is worth, and it depends on assumptions about the future.

ScripLens reports prices and figures that companies have already reported. It does not estimate what a company is "really" worth. Ratios such as P/E or P/B put a price next to a reported figure. They describe a relationship. They do not say whether a price is right, cheap or expensive.

Two people looking at the same numbers can reach different conclusions about value, and both may be reasonable. The numbers here are a starting point for your own reading, not a conclusion.

Market cap and size

In one lineMarket capitalisation is the total market value of a company's shares: price times shares outstanding.
market cap = latest close × shares outstanding
Illustrative example: market cap

Share price ₹500 × 2 crore shares (2,00,00,000 shares) = ₹1,000 crore.

ScripLens shows market cap in ₹ crore, where 1 crore = ten million (10,000,000).

The share count comes from company filings, so a market cap is an estimate that may differ from figures published elsewhere. A company that has issued new shares since its last filing will show a slightly outdated figure.

People often group companies by size. On ScripLens, the top 100 companies by market cap are called large, ranks 101 to 250 are mid, and the rest are small. This follows the way SEBI groups mutual funds. Size is a classification, not a measure of quality or of future returns, and rankings change.

Face value

In one lineFace value is the nominal value printed on each share, such as ₹1, ₹2, ₹5 or ₹10. It is not the market price.

The face value is set when a share is created and is used in accounting and in some corporate actions. A ₹10 share trading at ₹2,400 has a face value of ₹10 and a price of ₹2,400. The two numbers measure different things. When a company splits its shares, the face value changes too (for example ₹10 to ₹2), and the total-return view lists it that way.

Corporate actions

In one lineA corporate action is an event the company announces that changes shares or cash held by its holders. Each one has its own dates, and the price often reacts on a specific day.
ActionWhat happens to a holderEffect on the share price
DividendCash per share is paid.The price usually moves down by about the dividend on the ex-date, though not always exactly.
Bonus issueFree extra shares, for example 1:1 (one for each one held).The price is roughly divided by the new total share count (about halved for 1:1).
Stock splitEach share becomes several, for example ₹10 face value becomes two ₹5 shares.The price is divided by the same factor. Your total value is unchanged.
Rights issueThe right to buy new shares at a set price. Taking it up costs money.Varies. Not adjusted in ScripLens prices.
BuybackThe company buys some shares from holders, at a stated price or through the market.Varies. Not adjusted in ScripLens prices.
DemergerHolders receive shares in a newly separated company.Varies. ScripLens does not track the new company's shares in total returns.

Two dates matter for dividends and bonuses. The ex-date is the first day the share trades without the right to the entitlement. The record date is when the company checks its register to decide who receives it. The company's announcement gives both dates. Buying on or after the ex-date does not give you the entitlement.

ScripLens records dividends, bonus issues and splits. The stock page shows them in the dividend history, the total-return view and the company timeline.

Adjusted prices

In one lineAn adjusted price restates older prices for splits and bonus issues, so a chart stays continuous when the share count changes.

Imagine a 1:1 bonus. Each holder now has twice as many shares, and the price roughly halves on the day. A chart of the unadjusted price would show a 50% crash that no holder actually lost.

Illustrative example: a 1:1 bonus

Before the bonus, the price is ₹800. After it, the price is ₹400, and each holder has twice as many shares.

adjustment factor (1:1 bonus) = 1 ÷ (1 + 1) = 0.5

Adjusted old price = ₹800 × 0.5 = ₹400, the same basis as today.

Holding 100 shares at ₹800 (₹80,000) becomes 200 shares at ₹400 (₹80,000). The value is unchanged.

ScripLens adjusts prices for splits and bonus issues only. Dividends are not removed from the price series, so the price charts show price returns. The total-return view adds dividends back in separately. Rights issues, buybacks, mergers and demergers are not adjusted, so a few charts can differ from the exchange's own adjusted figures. Check the company's history before relying on a figure around such events.

End-of-day data

In one lineScripLens uses end-of-day figures: the prices and volumes recorded after the market closes, published from NSE's daily bhavcopy file.

The end-of-day close is the last traded price of the day. Each day's file also records the open, high and low, the number of shares traded (volume) and the rupee value traded (turnover). Figures can therefore be a day or more behind the market. The "EOD" date on each stock page shows which session the figures come from.

Anatomy of a green candle: the body runs from open to close, the wicks reach the high and low.HighCloseOpenLow
Left: a green day (closed above where it opened). Right: a red day (closed below). Shapes are illustrative.

Explanations of how the chart is drawn are in Charts and returns.

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Level 2: Reading the numbers →

Educational explanations only, not investment advice, research or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security. Past performance does not indicate future results. Every example uses made-up round numbers. Read the Disclaimer before relying on any figure.