Latest news with #SundararamanRamamurthy
Khaleej Times
7 days ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Stellar returns lure global investors to India's $5 trillion stock market
India has become a magnet for global investors, with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) playing a pivotal role in channelling this interest into its vibrant capital markets by providing low entry barriers and stellar returns. Surpassing a $5 trillion market capitalisation and with foreign portfolio investor (FPI) assets under custody exceeding $900 billion, India's economic allure is undeniable, says the head of the oldest stock exchange in Asia. Sundararaman Ramamurthy, managing director and CEO of BSE — the sixth-largest stock exchange in the world — attributes this to India's status as the fastest-growing major economy, boasting a GDP growth rate exceeding 7.0 per cent over the past 15 years. 'Coupled with a well-regulated, digitally advanced market, low entry barriers, and superior returns — evidenced by the BSE Sensex's 16 per cent CAGR over 30 years compared to 11 per cent for gold and 8.5 per cent for the S&P 500 — India offers unmatched opportunities,' Ramamurthy told Khaleej Times in an interview. The BSE chief was in Dubai last week as a keynote speaker at the Indian Business and Professionals Forum. 'BSE is strategically positioned to attract both domestic and global investors. Our approach is multifaceted, focusing on enhancing ease of trading, streamlining entry norms, and leveraging unique opportunities like GIFT City to make BSE the preferred platform for international portfolio investors,' said Ramamurthy. He said the doubling of India's share in global indices and world market capitalisation over the past three years further underscores its rising prominence. 'BSE is strategically enhancing its appeal to both domestic and international investors.' To counter the trend of Indian investors trading on foreign exchanges, BSE has introduced faster trade settlements with T+1 and T+0 cycles, enabling quicker capital turnover. Initiatives like the Common Application Form (CAF), digital signatures, and SWIFT-based certifications have streamlined FPI registration, while the Common Application Tracker Portal and FPI Outreach Cell provide real-time support. 'Relaxed KYC norms for funds under the same Investment Manager further reduce onboarding time. Despite delays in implementing the common contract note — now targeted for July 2025 — BSE is collaborating with regulators and technology vendors to ensure seamless adoption, enhancing transparency and reducing operational friction,' Ramamurthy said. 'These efforts position BSE as a gateway to India's dynamic markets, with ongoing simplification to maintain its edge.' The derivatives segment has seen a remarkable turnaround under Ramamurthy's leadership, with BSE's market share soaring from near zero to nearly 20 per cent in a year. This success stems from introducing Sensex derivatives, tailored to meet the needs of traders, brokers, and institutional investors. By April 2025, BSE recorded an average daily notional turnover of $15.6 billion and a premium turnover of $1.86 billion, peaking at $6.36 billion in a single day, with engagement from 515 active members, 7.5 million active clients, and 280 FPIs. Sustaining this momentum involves deepening engagement with over 600 brokers and 500 FPIs, introducing monthly expiries, and expanding colocation facilities. BSE's focus on 'Customer Delight' emphasises exceeding expectations and innovating continuously, ensuring it remains competitive against the National Stock Exchange (NSE) by benchmarking against its own performance. BSE's $6 million investment in infrastructure over the past 15 months has bolstered its global stature. Technological advancements include expanding colocation services with high-performance servers and 15 KVA-powered racks, increasing from 100 to 350 racks with a target of 500. The BSE's clearing arm, ICCL, has enhanced its capacity to handle trades from major players, significantly boosting order processing capabilities. The trading system now processes 18 times more order messages daily, while the StAR MF platform handles over 60 million mutual fund orders annually. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning are transforming operations, with pilot programs using large language models to review Draft Red Herring Prospectuses in 25 to 40 minutes, a task that once took a week. AI-driven mechanisms also track digital media for news on listed companies, enhancing regulatory oversight and mitigating risks of market manipulation. BSE's customer-centric approach ensures inclusivity across retail investors, institutional players, and brokers. For retail investors, BSE promotes accessibility through platforms like ManekiMano, a viral video series with over 1.2 billion views, simplifying financial concepts and educating against fraud. The Investor Protection Fund conducted 14,000 events in FY25, boosting financial literacy. For institutional players, BSE offers efficient infrastructure, including colocation services and a combined order book, while engaging through industry forums to align with strategic goals. Brokers receive support for regulatory submissions and product approvals, streamlining operations, Ramamurthy added. 'With India's working-age population — 70 per cent under 30 or women — projected to be the largest globally by 2030, BSE is leveraging AI and mobile apps to enhance financial inclusion in Tier-2, Tier-3, and Tier-4 cities. Real-time surveillance, algorithmic monitoring, and cyber threat detection further build trust, positioning BSE as a trusted platform for investors to capitalise on India's high-growth economy, diverse sectors, and superior returns,' the BSE chief said.
Zawya
25-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
IBPC Dubai and Bombay Stock Exchange forge strategic UAE-India capital corridor
Dubai, United Arab Emirates: In a historic convergence of financial leadership and cross-border collaboration, the Indian Business & Professional Council (IBPC Dubai) hosted Mr. Sundararaman Ramamurthy, Managing Director and CEO of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), for the inaugural UAE-India Capital Connect Series, signalling a renewed era of economic engagement between the UAE and India. The event drew prominent investors, institutional stakeholders, students, and professionals across sectors for a series of high-level sessions aimed at deepening capital market linkages and unlocking new growth channels between the two economies. 'This was a monumental day of achievement for IBPC Dubai,' stated Mr. Siddharth Balachandran, Chairman, IBPC Dubai. 'With active participation from over 10 community associations, we saw unity in diversity at its finest. As India charts its path toward becoming a USD 30 trillion economy by 2045, forums like these become critical enablers for collaborative progress.' Mr. Ramamurthy's keynote address served as both a retrospective and a forward-looking blueprint for India's capital market evolution from the formation of BSE in 1875 to its transformation into a cutting-edge digital marketplace. 'The paradigm has shifted,' said Mr. Ramamurthy. 'Post-1992 reforms, Indian markets moved from merely facilitating trades to catalysing capital formation, job creation, and trust-building. Today, with over 200 million mutual fund investors and 11,000 foreign portfolio investors, India has become a consumption-driven, resilient economy, poised for global leadership.' He emphasized the robustness of India's financial infrastructure, noting BSE's capacity to handle 1.4 million order messages per second, soon expanding to 2 million, and the platform's technological edge in latency-free trading and high-frequency environments. 'The Indian economy is like a ship capable of navigating turbulent geopolitical waters. Our market diversity and depth offer strong ballast. This is the time for Indian expatriates to not just remit but reinvest back in India through structured channels like the BSE.' His Excellency Satish Sivan, Consul General of India in Dubai, lauded the initiative as a strategic step in bolstering India-UAE economic cooperation, reinforcing the trusted, long-standing partnership between the two nations. Multiple sessions throughout the day offered tailored insights—from institutional investors to students and retail investors. Each session underscored the growing necessity of financial literacy, transparent capital access, and a shared vision for bilateral economic advancement. 'Events like these reflect the timeliness and seriousness with which we approach our dual mandate,' added Mr. Balachandran. 'We must support India-UAE trade ambitions while staying deeply rooted to our homeland's growth story.' With India recently overtaking major global economies to become the world's fifth largest, and UAE emerging as a capital gateway, the UAE-India Capital Connect Series is a testament to IBPC Dubai's commitment to strengthening people-to-market pipelines that drive real economic impact. The BSE CEO also highlighted significant opportunities in India's underrepresented SME sector, with only 1,000 of 60 million small and medium enterprises listed, and encouraged UAE investors to explore curated financial instruments, including newly launched indices tailored to mutual funds and insurance sectors. The evening's proceedings were kickstarted with speeches by Dr. Sahitya Chaturvedi, Secretary General of the IBPC, Mr. Skandan Mahalingam, Governor, IBPC Dubai and the evening closed with a Q&A session and a vote of thanks by Mr. Sunil Sinha, Vice Chairman, IBPC Dubai. For media inquiries, please contact: Nandini Vohra at nandini@
Time of India
28-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
BSE@150: Primary goal is to deepen and broaden the market; attract 500 FPIs: Sundararaman Ramamurthy
Sundararaman Ramamurthy , MD & CEO, BSE , says the exchange aims to deepen and broaden the market by increasing the number of brokers to 800 and data center racks to 500. They also plan to attract 500 Foreign Portfolio Investors ( FPIs ). Efforts are underway to distribute trading volumes across the week and promote monthly contracts, particularly for the bank index, to move beyond expiry-day focused trading. What is BSE's prime focus on its 150th year of existence? Sundararaman Ramamurthy : In order to ensure that the market acts as a meaningful alternate mechanism and also provide investors the diversity that they are looking for, we are looking to deepen and broaden the market, that will be our primary focus. What do we mean by deepening and broadening the market? We started with zero brokers. Today, we have 500. We want to go up to 800. If you are talking of six months, that will be part of this goal. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Thailand: New Small Electric Car For Seniors. Prices Might Surprise You. Electric Cars | Search Ads Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. We started with no data centre, meaningful collocation racks, today we are having around 300, at least we want to go to around 500 racks. In the next six months, we will add probably 100 more and probably in the next six months further down we will have another 100 more so that we come to the number of 500. Today, from zero FPIs, we have 250 FPIs, we want to go into some meaningful number of 500 over a period of time. In terms of deepening the market, today clearly every exchange can have only one weekly product. In that weekly product, only the current week trades are important. When the Sensex started, there was no option but to take Friday as the expiry day for us. Most of the volumes were happening on the expiry day. 85% and above was on expiry day. So, it was an expiry day product. Thanks to the regulatory framework changes, today that is not the case. It is somewhere around 45% on expiry day. The volumes are well distributed across all the week, throughout all the days of the week. Not only that, the trading has started commencing next week and next to next week as well is coming into monthly contracts. All the other contracts have become monthly contracts. We have a bank index, which is a wonderful index and is a monthly product. We have to build that product. So, more and more of further weeks down the lane being traded, more and more monthly contracts getting traded, is the first important point that we need to achieve before we go for more products. Live Events You Might Also Like: Need a level playing field in stock exchange business, says BSE CEO When we last discussed the expiry day, there was an ambiguity whether or not BSE expiry will remain on Tuesday. Now that Sebi's discussion paper has come, is that ambiguity gone now? It is completely out of the way that there will be no change in the trading days because even the direction which has come from SEBI has clearly defined there will be only two days of expiry, Tuesday and Thursday. Is it a fair anticipation? Sundararaman Ramamurthy: As you will recall, we started with Friday because we had no option. And when an option was given to choose a day, we chose Tuesday. And subsequently there were some changes which necessitated this consultation paper. The consultation paper, the regulatory process in India is a co-created process, with due consultation from the market participants. Clearly the market would have given the feedback to the regulators. The last day of expiry was April 17th, it just went away. We are waiting for the SEBI directives. As far as what action BSE is planning to take, Tuesday is one of the days which the regulators have suggested, and we are already on Tuesday. So, I am not sure whether we need to take any action. Any action that we need to take would depend upon whatever is the regulator's directive that will come out post the consultation paper being fully taken into consideration by the regulators. After due thought process, whatever decisions they make and they direct us, we will as always abide by their directions. But in your intent, Tuesday is fine? Sundararaman Ramamurthy: Tuesday is one of the days which is already stipulated in the consultative paper. We have no reason therefore to ask for anything different, that is what at least I feel, unless and until the market participants have directed something else to us through the consultation paper. So, from our perspective, since our expiry day is already one of the stipulated days in the consultation paper, I am not able to see a specific action point from our side necessitated at this point of time. You Might Also Like: Mutual funds best choice for retail investment but avoid thematic funds: BSE chief What are your pockets of growth? We have talked about one part, which are the areas where you see the growth will be there for BSE in next few years? Sundararaman Ramamurthy: What is the basic purpose of a stock exchange? The basic purpose of a stock exchange is one, capital formation. It should aid capital formation. It should help in the creation of liquidity. It should help in risk transfer. It should work for transparency. It should provide adequate safety mechanisms along with efficiency and speed. These are the starting points of all the requirements from a stock exchange perspective. Therefore, we should be aiding and helping in the capital formation of the country. What can we do about it? It is just not the equity capital that we are talking about. We are also talking about debt capital. So, I look at it in three areas. One, in respect of the equity capital main board, how are we going to become more efficient in helping all the people who are coming for listing, there no it is not necessary for you to go and tell people that you can list with us. They are mainboard people. They have a lot of people working with them, they will advise. The most important part of our action in aiding the capital formation is how you bring in efficiency, how you make for ease of operations. So, that is one area we are working on. In respect of the non-main board, that is, SME , we have six crore companies and SMEs are very close to my heart because of their contribution to the economy. We hardly have 570 companies which are listed at BSE, that is not even scratching the tip of the iceberg. What we need to have is quality SMEs coming and listing with us. How do you identify what is quality? Thanks to all the regulatory recent changes that have come in place, there is a greater clarity on what the expectation of the regulators is how to identify good companies, how to identify bad companies, how to augment the banking sector by providing the risk capital for SMEs from the equity sector so that whatever working capital gets provided by the banks is meaningfully safe and also quality. You Might Also Like: BSE@150: India to remain an attractive destination for foreign and Indian investors: Hemendra M Kothari Today, we are trying to leverage technological advantage on a test basis. Already, as a pilot study we have already incorporated the AI and LLM based system. What it basically does is when draft prospects come to us, that gets done in two to three weeks. It looks at the draft prospectors to check on SEBI compliances, BSE specific compliances which we have put extra, and also then based on the past records to check for any weak points, see if there are too many related party transactions, too much change in management, too much change in statutory auditors, whether funds are being diverted under the name of working capital. All these types of checks. So that is the third part of it. The fourth part is, it does a public domain analysis to see whether there is any enforcement action on any of the people, whether there are any problems about the promoters in MCA or about anybody involved in it and all that stuff and narrates to us. So, this helps in making much more meaningful analysis in a shorter period of time. This is an evolving process. Every one of the regulatory processes, every one of the checking and monitoring processes is evolving. We have started this pilot. Once we become satisfied with that, we will be implementing it and that will aid SMEs. Last but not the least is debt capital. It is very important that you provide service in the area of debt capital. Corporate bonds are active. We have to take it more to the public. We ensure that whatever warehousing of corporate bonds today happens in some pockets in India where the brokers warehouse it and help in liquidity creation, what is the type of help we can provide as a stock exchange to deepen there, is another important area of focus for us.
Economic Times
28-04-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
BSE@150: Primary goal is to deepen and broaden the market; attract 500 FPIs: Sundararaman Ramamurthy
Sundararaman Ramamurthy, MD & CEO, BSE, says the exchange aims to deepen and broaden the market by increasing the number of brokers to 800 and data center racks to 500. They also plan to attract 500 Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs). Efforts are underway to distribute trading volumes across the week and promote monthly contracts, particularly for the bank index, to move beyond expiry-day focused trading. What is BSE's prime focus on its 150th year of existence? Sundararaman Ramamurthy: In order to ensure that the market acts as a meaningful alternate mechanism and also provide investors the diversity that they are looking for, we are looking to deepen and broaden the market, that will be our primary focus. What do we mean by deepening and broadening the market? We started with zero brokers. Today, we have 500. We want to go up to 800. If you are talking of six months, that will be part of this goal. We started with no data centre, meaningful collocation racks, today we are having around 300, at least we want to go to around 500 racks. In the next six months, we will add probably 100 more and probably in the next six months further down we will have another 100 more so that we come to the number of 500. Today, from zero FPIs, we have 250 FPIs, we want to go into some meaningful number of 500 over a period of time. In terms of deepening the market, today clearly every exchange can have only one weekly product. In that weekly product, only the current week trades are important. When the Sensex started, there was no option but to take Friday as the expiry day for us. Most of the volumes were happening on the expiry day. 85% and above was on expiry day. So, it was an expiry day product. Thanks to the regulatory framework changes, today that is not the case. It is somewhere around 45% on expiry day. The volumes are well distributed across all the week, throughout all the days of the week. Not only that, the trading has started commencing next week and next to next week as well is coming into monthly contracts. All the other contracts have become monthly contracts. We have a bank index, which is a wonderful index and is a monthly product. We have to build that product. So, more and more of further weeks down the lane being traded, more and more monthly contracts getting traded, is the first important point that we need to achieve before we go for more products. When we last discussed the expiry day, there was an ambiguity whether or not BSE expiry will remain on Tuesday. Now that Sebi's discussion paper has come, is that ambiguity gone now? It is completely out of the way that there will be no change in the trading days because even the direction which has come from SEBI has clearly defined there will be only two days of expiry, Tuesday and Thursday. Is it a fair anticipation? Sundararaman Ramamurthy: As you will recall, we started with Friday because we had no option. And when an option was given to choose a day, we chose Tuesday. And subsequently there were some changes which necessitated this consultation paper. The consultation paper, the regulatory process in India is a co-created process, with due consultation from the market participants. Clearly the market would have given the feedback to the regulators. The last day of expiry was April 17th, it just went away. We are waiting for the SEBI directives. As far as what action BSE is planning to take, Tuesday is one of the days which the regulators have suggested, and we are already on Tuesday. So, I am not sure whether we need to take any action. Any action that we need to take would depend upon whatever is the regulator's directive that will come out post the consultation paper being fully taken into consideration by the regulators. After due thought process, whatever decisions they make and they direct us, we will as always abide by their directions. But in your intent, Tuesday is fine? Sundararaman Ramamurthy: Tuesday is one of the days which is already stipulated in the consultative paper. We have no reason therefore to ask for anything different, that is what at least I feel, unless and until the market participants have directed something else to us through the consultation paper. So, from our perspective, since our expiry day is already one of the stipulated days in the consultation paper, I am not able to see a specific action point from our side necessitated at this point of time. What are your pockets of growth? We have talked about one part, which are the areas where you see the growth will be there for BSE in next few years? Sundararaman Ramamurthy: What is the basic purpose of a stock exchange? The basic purpose of a stock exchange is one, capital formation. It should aid capital formation. It should help in the creation of liquidity. It should help in risk transfer. It should work for transparency. It should provide adequate safety mechanisms along with efficiency and speed. These are the starting points of all the requirements from a stock exchange perspective. Therefore, we should be aiding and helping in the capital formation of the country. What can we do about it? It is just not the equity capital that we are talking about. We are also talking about debt capital. So, I look at it in three areas. One, in respect of the equity capital main board, how are we going to become more efficient in helping all the people who are coming for listing, there no it is not necessary for you to go and tell people that you can list with us. They are mainboard people. They have a lot of people working with them, they will advise. The most important part of our action in aiding the capital formation is how you bring in efficiency, how you make for ease of operations. So, that is one area we are working on. In respect of the non-main board, that is, SME , we have six crore companies and SMEs are very close to my heart because of their contribution to the economy. We hardly have 570 companies which are listed at BSE, that is not even scratching the tip of the iceberg. What we need to have is quality SMEs coming and listing with us. How do you identify what is quality? Thanks to all the regulatory recent changes that have come in place, there is a greater clarity on what the expectation of the regulators is how to identify good companies, how to identify bad companies, how to augment the banking sector by providing the risk capital for SMEs from the equity sector so that whatever working capital gets provided by the banks is meaningfully safe and also quality. Today, we are trying to leverage technological advantage on a test basis. Already, as a pilot study we have already incorporated the AI and LLM based system. What it basically does is when draft prospects come to us, that gets done in two to three weeks. It looks at the draft prospectors to check on SEBI compliances, BSE specific compliances which we have put extra, and also then based on the past records to check for any weak points, see if there are too many related party transactions, too much change in management, too much change in statutory auditors, whether funds are being diverted under the name of working capital. All these types of checks. So that is the third part of it. The fourth part is, it does a public domain analysis to see whether there is any enforcement action on any of the people, whether there are any problems about the promoters in MCA or about anybody involved in it and all that stuff and narrates to us. So, this helps in making much more meaningful analysis in a shorter period of time. This is an evolving process. Every one of the regulatory processes, every one of the checking and monitoring processes is evolving. We have started this pilot. Once we become satisfied with that, we will be implementing it and that will aid SMEs. Last but not the least is debt capital. It is very important that you provide service in the area of debt capital. Corporate bonds are active. We have to take it more to the public. We ensure that whatever warehousing of corporate bonds today happens in some pockets in India where the brokers warehouse it and help in liquidity creation, what is the type of help we can provide as a stock exchange to deepen there, is another important area of focus for us.
Hans India
27-04-2025
- Business
- Hans India
Stock market and the gamble, lottery, strategic venture doctrine
The Managing Director and CEO of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sundararaman Ramamurthy has urged investors to be vigilant and informed. His advice was 'You trade what you understand, and you understand what you trade: If you don't do that, you will have a problem.' This is a momentous observation given the substantial number of people who trade in the stock market. In fact, many investors are found wanting when it comes to selecting the right companies, monitoring the market, and choosing between Lump Sum Investments and Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs). While the former comes with a greater level of risk but offers higher returns, the latter promotes disciplined investing, a lower level of risk, and more consistent returns. Consistency and informed decision-making matter more than market timing. Meanwhile, to guide the investors and make available market trends, shape investor confidence, influence policy decisions, and act as economic barometers, stock indices like the Sensex have emerged. Irrespective of whether markets are 'bullish (rising) or bearish (falling)', the indices serve as reference points to compare the performance of individual portfolios or mutual funds, providing a macro-level snapshot of business sentiment and economic health. Sensex is a statistical measure reflecting composite value of a select group of stocks. As a key benchmark of the Indian stock market, the BSE sensex represents the weighted average performance of 30 financially sound and well-established companies from diverse sectors, including banking, technology, energy and consumer goods. The sensex tracks the performance of these companies, and the index is calculated by way of a scientifically designed market capitalisation-weighted formula. Charles Dow's creation of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) in the USA in 1896, featuring a dozen companies, marked the genesis of stock indices globally. Following suit, India launched sensex in 1986. It was developed by the BSE's Economic Research and Policy division. Later, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) introduced the NIFTY 50, another major index tracking 50 large companies. As Ramamurthy suggested, investors need to understand how these listed companies are performing within the broader market trend. Reports like Sensex or Nifty have 'gone up' or 'fell sharply' reflect the collective performance of the 30 or 50 companies respectively. Rising index signals economic optimism, job creation, and business growth. Falling index indicates caution, global pressures, or weak corporate earnings. Market movements are influenced by a wide range of domestic and international factors. Sensex and Nifty experienced dramatic highs and lows over the years. Sensex was launched with data that was calculated to 1979 base of 100, beginning around 550 points. Nifty followed in 1995 with a base of 1000. During the global fiscal crisis of 2008–2009, sensex, in a steep decline, dropped to 7,697 and Nifty to 2,524. The Harshad Mehta fraud resulted in a low of 2,529. Before the 2008 crash, Nifty peaked at 6357 and sensex touched an all-time high of 21,206 points in January and later fell to a low of 8,160 by March 9, 2009. More recently, between September 2024 and February 2025, both experienced rises. On September 27, 2024, sensex hit an all-time high of 85,978 and Nifty 26,277 points. By February 28, 2025, they dropped to 73,198 and 22,124, respectively, reflecting market trend consequent to global and domestic developments. Defying the global market trend and marking a seventh day of rise, sensex and Nifty touched 80,254 and 24,328 points respectively by April 23, but ended lower in the next two days to touch 79,213 and 24,039 points on April 25. Sensex rose by 660 and Nifty added 187 points during the week. Despite unpredictability, an inherent characteristic of markets, sensex manipulation cannot be ruled out, despite it being difficult. Market operators and influential investors may artificially inflate stock prices by buying in bulk before offloading for profits. Insider trading by people using confidential information tends to gain unfair advantage in the stock market, despite SEBI regulation. Through the 'pump-and-dump' scheme, fraudsters create a buying frenzy that will pump up the price of a stock and then dump shares of the stock by selling their shares at the inflated price. The 2009 Satyam Computers (part of both the Sensex and Nifty) scandal remains a striking example of how a single company's collapse can impact the entire market. When Satyam Chairman B. Ramalinga Raju admitted that he had manipulated the company's accounts, the stock plunged by over 75 per cent in a single day, eroding massive investor wealth. Sensex dropped by 750 points. The scandal raised concerns across corporate India, affecting the broader market. International markets too witnessed such corporate frauds that led to collapses of high-profile firms like Enron (USA) and Wirecard (Germany). These cases reinforce the idea that investor's trust is the foundation of capital markets, and once that trust is broken, the consequences can ripple far beyond the company in question. Despite being rooted in logic and data, the stock market from time to time depicts itself as a gamble, lottery, or rich man's playground. Especially beginners, doubting Thomases, and on occasions even seasoned investors feel the pinch. This perception is not entirely unfounded. When people without due diligence invest blindly, based on 'media hearsay' their investment turns into speculation. Hence, the stock market may resemble a casino more than a wealth-creation platform. The comparison to a lottery may arise from unrealistic expectations. Many investors hope to double their money overnight, picking stocks as though they were lucky numbers. Such an approach ignores risks and lacks any strategic foundation. Luck may play a role in short-term gains. But long-term success in the stock market depends on research, planning, and discipline. It is similar to the difference between gambling on luck and managing a business wisely. When treated responsibly, the stock market is far from a game of chance. It becomes a serious platform for long-term wealth creation, akin to managing a business. By following a disciplined strategy investors become entrepreneurs of their own financial future. They need not be driven by emotion, tips, or momentary enthusiasm, and face losses that reinforce the saying that 'stock market is gambling' myth. A sound investment strategy emphasizes reviewing portfolios regularly, avoiding emotional decisions, using tools for limiting losses by automatically selling investments, and focusing on capital preservation before chasing high returns. 'Earning 10% this year means nothing if you lose 30% the next.' Risk management, rather than profit maximization, shall be the rule for investing. SIPs are ideal for those with consistent income and long-term horizons. They average out costs, reduce timing risks, and instill investment discipline. Lump Sum Investments, while potentially rewarding during market downturns, demand greater risk tolerance and market awareness. A hybrid approach, balancing both based on one's financial goals and risk appetite, may yield the best possible results. Sensex mirrors India's economic aspirations, market health, and investor confidence. Whether the investor views the stock market as a gamble, lottery, or strategic venture depends entirely on engaging with it. Emotional and uninformed decisions may make it feel like a game of chance. Thoughtful, consistent investing based on goals, research, and risk awareness, transforms it into a powerful vehicle for wealth creation. It is not 'timing the Market' (trying to predict the best times to buy low and sell high), but 'time' in the market (staying long term invested) that determines true success. Historically, sensex has shown consistent long-term growth despite short-term volatility. From 1000 points in 1990, it crossed 40,000 by 2020, and has been soaring around or above 75,000 points in 2024 touching 85,978 points once. Sensex and Nifty listed 55 (plus 25 common) companies represent the financial heartbeat of India and drive wealth creation. With gold prices crossing Rs one lakh per 10 grams, the rupee weakening, and inflation rising, strategic market ventures become increasingly vibrant.
