Since its inception in January 1986, starting at around 550 points, the Sensex has charted a remarkable journey, reaching an all-time high of over 80,000 points today — a march from under-73,000 at the turn of the year. Despite enduring sharp declines during events like the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 pandemic, the Sensex has consistently demonstrated resilience and growth. Let’s explore its significant milestones and interesting trends from 1,000 to its current high.
Sensex stands for Sensitive Index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which works in collaboration with the S&P BSE index committee, to select the 30 constituents of the index. Here, S&P refers to financial services company Standard and Poor’s, which has an understanding with Dow Jones to manage indices across the world. Sensex (and SP 500 too, for example) is one of the indices they manage.
Fashioning the Sensex: From concept to icon By the way, the term “Sensex” was coined by stock market analyst Deepak Mohoni — an IIT graduate and an MBA from IIM — in 1989, blending “Sensitive” and “Index” to reflect its purpose as a sensitive indicator of market trends. Originally designed to reflect market sentiment and investor confidence, the Sensex quickly gained popularity as a barometer of India’s economic health, attracting attention both domestically and internationally. But its roots are much deeper.
The BSE came up in 1875 under a sprawling banyan tree in Mumbai, then called Bombay. H.