Skip to main content

Tracking rise and fall of Sensex? But how is Sensex calculated?

Many of us track the rise and fall of Sensex either for planning our investments or for just keeping ourselves updated about the market. But ever wondered what is Sensex and how is it calculated?

What is Sensex?

S&P Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index (S&P BSE SENSEX), commonly referred to as Sensex, is India’s most tracked index to gauge the trend of Indian stock market. It measures the performance of the 30 largest, most liquid and financially sound companies across key sectors of the Indian economy that are listed at Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

History of Sensex

Sensex was launched on 1st January 1986 with the base year of 1978-79 and base value of 100. Until 1st September 2003, the Sensex was determined based on the Full Market Capitalization Method, however, from 1st September 2003 it is being calculated as per the Free Float Market Capitalization Method. Free-float market capitalization takes into consideration only those shares issued by the company that are readily available for trading in the market and excludes promoters' holding, government holding, strategic holding and other locked-in shares.

Formulas for calculating Sensex

Full Market capitalization = number of shares issued by the company * market price of the share

Free-float market capitalization = number of shares available for trading in the open market * market price of the share

Sensex = [free float market capitalization of 30 companies / market capitalization in 1978-79] * index value in 1978-79 (i.e.100)

Selection of 30 companies for Sensex

The basket of 30 companies is reviewed by the Index Committee every quarter. Any change i.e. addition or deletion of a company from the basket is announced six weeks in advance of the implementation of the change and takes effect from the Monday following the third Friday of March, June, September, and December.

The 30 companies which are currently part of Sensex

  1. Asian Paints Ltd
  2. Axis Bank Ltd
  3. Bajaj Finance Ltd
  4. Bajaj Finserv Ltd
  5. Bharti Airtel Ltd
  6. Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd
  7. HCL Technologies Ltd
  8. HDFC Bank Ltd
  9. Hindustan Unilever Ltd
  10. Housing Development Finance Corp
  11. ICICI Bank Ltd
  12. IndusInd Bank Ltd
  13. Infosys Ltd
  14. ITC Ltd
  15. Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd
  16. Larsen & Toubro Ltd
  17. Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd
  18. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd
  19. Nestle India Ltd
  20. NTPC Ltd
  21. Power Grid Corp of India Ltd
  22. Reliance Industries Ltd
  23. State Bank of India
  24. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd
  25. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd
  26. Tata Steel Ltd
  27. Tech Mahindra Ltd
  28. Titan Co Ltd
  29. UltraTech Cement Ltd
  30. Wipro Ltd
Follow at - Telegram   Instagram   LinkedIn   Twitter

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Regulatory Measures for the Foreign Exchange Market

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced regulatory measures for the foreign exchange market. Cancellation and rebooking / rollovers of foreign exchange derivative contracts An Authorised Dealer shall not permit users to rebook any foreign exchange derivative contract involving the INR, whether deliverable or non-deliverable, which has been cancelled with any of the Authorised Dealers. An Authorised Dealer may, however, continue to permit users to rollover foreign exchange derivative contracts on maturity, subject to compliance with the extant directions. Threshold limit for taking positions without requirement to establish the existence of underlying Authorised Dealers were permitted to allow users to take positions upto USD 100 million equivalent of notional value (outstanding at any point of time), across all Authorised Dealers, for hedging contracted exposure without the requirement to establish the existence of underlying exposure.  Further, a user was allowed to take positio...
Post a Comment
Read more

Credit Facilities to Scheduled Castes (SCs) & Scheduled Tribes (STs)

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued guidelines on credit facilities to Scheduled Castes (SCs) & Scheduled Tribes (STs). What are the guidelines on credit facilities to SCs & STs? District Level Consultative Committees formed under the Lead Bank Scheme should continue to be the principal mechanism of co-ordination between banks and development agencies.  National Scheduled Tribes Finance & Development Corporation and National Scheduled Castes Finance & Development Corporation have been set up under the administrative control of Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, respectively. Banks should advise their branches / controlling offices to render all the necessary institutional support to enable these institutions to achieve the desired objectives. Loans sanctioned to State Sponsored Organisations for Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes for the specific purpose of purchase and supply of inputs and / or the marketing of the out...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) (Updated as on September 11, 2026)

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued the directions on maintenance of Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) by banks. To whom are the directions applicable? The directions are applicable to the following Regulated Entities (REs) – Commercial Banks  Small Finance Banks (SFBs) Payments Banks (PBs) Local Area Banks (LABs) Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) Rural Co-operative Banks – State Co-operative Banks (StCBs) District Central Co-operative Banks (DCCBs) What is CRR? Every bank shall maintain in India by way of cash reserve, a sum equivalent to such percent of its Net Demand and Time Liabilities (NDTL) in India, as the RBI in terms of Section 42(1) of the RBI Act, 1934 (for scheduled banks) and Section 18(1) of the Banking Regulation Act (BR Act), 1949 (for non-scheduled banks) [including provisions of Section 18(1) of the BR Act as applicable to co-operative banks], may specify. What is incremental CRR? In terms of Secti...
Post a Comment
Read more

What is Ways and Means Advances (WMA)? (Updated as on September 25, 2026)

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recently announced the Ways and Means Advances (WMA) limit for the Government of India. So, what is WMA? What is Ways and Means Advances (WMA)? Ways and Means Advances (WMA) is a collateral free clean advance availed by the Central and State Governments from RBI, to tide over temporary mismatches in the receipts and payments. Section 17(5) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 empowers RBI to grant WMA to Central and State Governments, as and when required by them. What is Special WMA / Special Drawing Facility (SDF)? In addition to WMA, State Governments are also eligible for a Special Drawing Facility (SDF), which is granted against collateral of Government Securities held by the State Governments.  SDF availed by State Governments / UTs is linked to the quantum of their investments in marketable securities issued by the Government of India, including Auction Treasury Bills (ATBs).  (Updated as on June 28, 2024) Based on the recommendations m...
Post a Comment
Read more

Framework for Self-Regulatory Organisations in the FinTech Sector (Updated on September 10, 2026)

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released the framework for self-regulatory organisations in the FinTech sector. What are FinTechs? For the purpose of membership of an Self-Regulatory Organisations for FinTech Sector (SRO-FT), FinTechs may be defined as entities that provide technological solutions for delivery of financial products and services to businesses and consumers or encompass regulatory and supervisory compliance in partnership with traditional financial institutions or otherwise.  What is the need of Self-Regulatory Organisations for FinTech Sector? FinTechs play a pivotal role in redefining financial services by saving time, enhancing access, and lowering costs. While the FinTechs bring various innovations, the FinTech sector also raises concerns relating to customer protection, data privacy, cyber security, grievance handling, internal governance, financial system integrity, etc. A judicious balance between maximising the creative potential of FinTechs, while minimising...
Post a Comment
Read more