How stocks were traded in the '90s

Bombay Stock Exchange, the first-ever stock exchange in Asia established in 1875 and the first in the country to be granted permanent recognition under the Securities Contract Regulation Act, 1956, has had an interesting rise to prominence over the past 137 years.

Let's take a look at how stocks were traded in the 1990s.

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While BSE is now synonymous with Dalal Street, it was not always so. The first venue of the earliest stock broker meetings in the 1850s was in rather natural environs - under banyan trees - in front of the Town Hall, where Horniman Circle is now situated.

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A decade later, the brokers moved their venue to another set of foliage, this time under banyan trees at the junction of Meadows Street and what is now called Mahatma Gandhi Road.

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As the number of brokers increased, they had to shift from place to place, but they always overflowed to the streets. At last, in 1874, the brokers found a permanent place, and one that they could, quite literally, call their own. The new place was, aptly, called Dalal Street (Brokers' Street).

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The journey of BSE is as eventful and interesting as the history of India's securities market.

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In fact, as India's biggest bourse in terms of listed companies and market capitalisation, almost every leading corporate in India has sourced BSE services in raising capital and is listed with BSE.

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Even in terms of an orderly growth, much before the actual legislations were enacted, BSE had formulated a comprehensive set of Rules and Regulations for the securities market.

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It had also laid down best practices which were adopted subsequently by 23 stock exchanges which were set up after India gained its independence.

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BSE, as a institutional brand, has been and is synonymous with the capital market in India. Its S&P BSE Sensex is the benchmark equity index that reflects the health of the Indian economy.