explainerMarkets

What is the Nifty 50?

Updated 21 September 2026

Janooji in 10 seconds

The Nifty 50 is a market-capitalisation-weighted index of 50 large companies listed on the NSE. You cannot buy the index itself; you buy a fund or ETF that tracks it. A 'Nifty is up' headline is about that basket, not about your one stock.

Membership is reviewed periodically. Banks, IT, energy, and consumer names usually dominate the weight. Sensex is BSE's 30-stock cousin — related, not identical.

Sources

NSE India (opens in a new tab) · Official
Nifty indices
Accessed 21 September 2026

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