Share Market Meaning

There are two types of stock markets, Primary and Secondary markets. Please note that it only trades shares while the stock market trades bonds, derivatives, and forex, and both have distinct modus operandi as well. The topmost US stock exchanges comprise the Nasdaq and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). 

Key Takeaways

  • A share market is a marketplace wherein the buyers and sellers trade the shares of publicly listed firms. Nasdaq and NYSE are leading US stock exchanges. It has two types, primary and secondary markets. Primarily, the first-time registered companies sell their shares (called IPO) in the primary market. Then they trade the shares in the secondary market. The financial instruments traded in a stock market constitute shares, mutual funds, bonds, and derivatives. Though used interchangeably, the share market and stock market have different modes of operations. The former typically trades shares, while the latter trades forex and derivatives.

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Basics of Share Market Explained

Share market entails two types of people, namely, investors and traders. While investors possess stocks for a long duration, traders hold them for a shorter period. Thus, the interested individuals must consider their preferences and stay updated on live share market news which is also a great way for beginners to learn the basics. 

An establishment requiring money for its growth and expansion gets finances from people through issuing its shares. Initial Public Offering (IPO) helps firms get listed on the stock market to receive funds for further development. Provided that you follow the news, share market investment is among the best-planned practices for prolonged wealth creation. 

When many buyers wish to purchase a stock, they bid for it, and the highest rate is known as the bid priceBid PriceBid Price is the highest amount that a buyer quotes against the “ask price” (quoted by a seller) to buy particular security, stock, or any financial instrument. read more. Likewise, when various sellers begin selling the stocks, they ask for a specific rate, and the lowest one is labeled as the ask priceAsk PriceThe ask price is the lowest price of the stock at which the prospective seller of the stock is willing to sell the security he holds. In most of the exchanges, the lowest selling prices are quoted for the purpose of the trading. Along with the price, ask quote might stipulate the amount of security which is available for selling at the given stated price.read more. Furthermore, the transaction occurs when both prices are matched. 

Share market investment may be a risky option due to the volatility of shares over a short duration. However, closely observing the share market live updates, news, and smart investment planning provides inflation-beating profitsProfitsProfit refers to the earnings that an individual or business takes home after all the costs are paid. In economics, the term is associated with monetary gains. read more. Moreover, buybacks and dividendsDividendsDividends refer to the portion of business earnings paid to the shareholders as gratitude for investing in the company’s equity.read more aid in capital growth. 

Types Of Share Market

The stock market is of 2 types:

#1 – Primary Market

The firm enters the primary stock market following its first-time enrollment at the stock exchangeStock ExchangeStock exchange refers to a market that facilitates the buying and selling of listed securities such as public company stocks, exchange-traded funds, debt instruments, options, etc., as per the standard regulations and guidelines—for instance, NYSE and NASDAQ.read more alias IPO. Afterward, it becomes publicly registered whose shares are tradable to market players. In addition, it lets the enterprise raise finances for further market expansion.  

#2 – Secondary Market

Once the corporation’s new shares are sold in the primary market, they are later traded on the secondary stock market. Investors can buy or/and sell them at prevalent or mutually agreed upon market rates via a mediator. This expedites the procedure to comprehend share market basics for beginners. The plans vary with different brokers. 

It functions through the exchange-traded market and Over The CounterOver The CounterOver the counter (OTC) is the process of stock trading for the companies that don’t hold a place on formal exchange listings. The broker-dealer network facilitates such decentralized trading of derivatives, equity and debt instruments.read more (OTC) method. Alternatively called “Auction Market,” the former is a strictly regulated marketplace conducting all transactions through the exchange. Contrastingly, the latter is an informal marketplace wherein two parties conform to a certain contract to be arranged in the future. 

Examples 

Let’s go through a few stock market examples in detail.

Example #1

A stock market comprises primary and secondary marketsSecondary MarketsA secondary market is a platform where investors can easily buy or sell securities once issued by the original issuer, be it a bank, corporation, or government entity. Also referred to as an aftermarket, it allows investors to trade securities freely without interference from those who issue them.read more. For example, assume an online payment service provider decides to raise funds for business expansion through an IPO in the stock market. 

As a result of creating securities, it has become a publicly-traded company with marketable shares in the primary market. The company enters the secondary market once its primary market shares are traded. 

An investor named Clara buys its stock at a predetermined price. She, thus, becomes a shareholder in the business and has the option to buy or sell her shares based on market conditions and live share market news.

Example #2

As per the share market live updates, Nasdaq has recently dropped due to the astonishing decrement (35.1%) in Netflix subscribers. As investors anticipated, the streaming service’s biggest 1-day fall in 10 years has negatively affected other high-growth firms too. 

Walt Disney, Roku, and Warner Bros Discovery stocks fell over 5.5%. Moreover, Zoom Video Communications, Doordash, and Peloton Interactive stocks dropped by 6%-11.3%. 

Contrastingly, the blue-chip Dow reported a second-consecutive higher close owing to positive earningsEarningsEarnings are usually defined as the net income of the company obtained after reducing the cost of sales, operating expenses, interest, and taxes from all the sales revenue for a specific time period. In the case of an individual, it comprises wages or salaries or other payments.read more from Procter & Gamble (2.7%). Furthermore, IBM Corp’s earnings also rose by 7.1%. 

Financial Instruments Traded in A Share Market

The stock market involves the trading of four crucial financial instrumentsFinancial InstrumentsFinancial instruments are certain contracts or documents that act as financial assets such as debentures and bonds, receivables, cash deposits, bank balances, swaps, cap, futures, shares, bills of exchange, forwards, FRA or forward rate agreement, etc. to one organization and as a liability to another organization and are solely taken into use for trading purposes.read more:

#1 – Shares

Shares are portions of ownership in a business that offers earnings in dividends. It is doubtlessly a principal element of share market basics for beginners. Moreover, the owners of shares are called shareholders, and it has two vital categories, namely, Equity and Preference shares. 

#2 – Mutual Funds

These are financial vehicles that accumulate capital from numerous investors to invest in securities like bonds, short-term debt, and stocks. There are four types of mutual fundsMutual FundsA mutual fund is a professionally managed investment product in which a pool of money from a group of investors is invested across assets such as equities, bonds, etcread more: bond funds, money market funds, target-date funds, and stock funds. 

#3 – Bonds

Bonds are debt securities wherein the investor loansLoansA loan is a vehicle for credit in which a lender will give a sum of money to a borrower or borrowing entity in exchange for future repayment.read more out the funds to the government or firm (bond-issuer) for a fixed duration. The bond issuer pays the principal amount at the maturity date and the predetermined interest amount throughout the bond period. 

#4 – Derivatives

These are financial contracts between at least two parties that derive their value from the performance of an underlying asset(s)Underlying Asset(s)Underlying assets are the actual financial assets on which the financial derivatives rely. Thus, any change in the value of a derivative reflects the price fluctuation of its underlying asset. Such assets comprise stocks, commodities, market indices, bonds, currencies and interest rates.read more. It may incorporate bonds, stocks, currencies, cryptocurrencies, commodities, market indexes, and interest rates. 

This article has been a guide to Share Market and its Meaning. Here we explain the basics of investment, its types, examples, & traded financial instruments. You can learn more about corporate finance from the following articles: –

Share market works in the following step-by-step manner: 1. Listing of an enterprise in the primary market through IPO. 2. Distribution of shares in the secondary market. 3. Communication between the interested investors and their brokers regarding the number of shares to be bought. 4. Relaying the order at the stock exchange to match a sell order at the prevalent market price. 5. Delivery of shares to the investor’s account.

The share market opens at 9:30 AM Eastern Time (ET) and closes at 4 PM ET. Moreover, the timings for pre-opening and early trading sessions differ as per the stock exchange.

No, the share market is not gambling. The former designates the investors as shareholders while they own nothing in gambling. Also, trading has no definite concept of winning or losing, but it is only a competitive marketplace.

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