Sensex (Stock Exchange Sensitive Index), also known as the BSE Sensex or BSE 30, represents the performance of the top 30 companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in India.
Introduced by the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in 1986, Sensex is the benchmark stock market index for the Indian equity market’s performance.
The stocks included in Sensex are selected by the S&P BSE Index Committee based on five criteria.
These criteria are as follows:
#1. Listing on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE): Companies must be listed on the BSE, one of the major stock exchanges in India.
#2. Large or Mega-cap stocks: The Sensex includes companies with significant market capitalization, either large or mega-cap stocks.
#3. Liquidity: Stocks included in the Sensex should demonstrate sufficient liquidity, ensuring ease of trading and investment.
#4. Earnings from core activities: The selected companies must generate earnings from their core business activities, reflecting their operational performance.
#5. Sector balance: The Sensex composition considers the need to maintain a balanced representation of various sectors in alignment with the overall equity market of the country.
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BSE Sensex 30 Sector Weightage List 2023
Sensex 30 companies cover 18 different sectors to provide a diverse representation of the Indian stock market.
The banking sector holds the highest weightage of 31.86% in the index.
| Sector | Weightage |
| Banks | 31.86% |
| IT Consulting & Software | 14.61% |
| Integrated Oil & Gas | 11.84% |
| Personal Products | 7.29% |
| Cigarettes,Tobacco Products | 5.43% |
| Construction & Engineering | 4.13% |
| Cars & Utility Vehicles | 3.35% |
| Housing Finance | 3.17% |
| Telecom Services | 2.84% |
| Holding Companies | 2.42% |
| Pharmaceuticals | 2.41% |
| Electric Utilities | 2.35% |
| Furniture,Furnishing,Paints | 1.89% |
| Cement & Cement Products | 1.26% |
| Iron & Steel/Interm.Products | 1.26% |
| Finance (including NBFCs) | 1.18% |
| Packaged Foods | 1.12% |
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Sensex 30 Companies List with Weightage (As on May 2023)
In the Sensex, each stock is assigned a unique weightage based on its free-float market capitalization, with higher market cap stocks receiving higher weightage in the index.
Free-float market capitalization refers to the total market value of a company’s publicly traded shares that are available for trading.
This methodology ensures that the Sensex accurately reflects the contribution of each constituent stock to the overall index performance.
| Sr. No. | Name | Industry | Weightage |
| 1. | Reliance Industries Ltd. | Integrated Oil & Gas | 11.95% |
| 2. | HDFC Bank Ltd. | Banks | 10.38% |
| 3. | ICICI Bank Ltd. | Banks | 9.37% |
| 4. | Hindustan Unilever Ltd. | Personal Products | 7.10% |
| 5. | Infosys Ltd. | IT Consulting & Software | 6.5% |
| 6. | ITC Ltd. | Cigarettes,Tobacco Products | 5.48% |
| 7. | TCS | IT Consulting & Software | 4.79% |
| 8. | Larsen & Toubro Ltd. | Construction & Engineering | 4.16% |
| 9. | Kotak Mahindra Bank | Banks | 4.1% |
| 10. | Axis Bank | Banks | 3.43% |
| 11. | HUL | Housing Finance | 3.23% |
| 12. | SBI | Banks | 3.2% |
| 13. | Bharti Airtel | Telecom Services | 2.8% |
| 14. | Bajaj Finance | Holding Companies | 2.46% |
| 15. | Asian Paints | Furniture,Furnishing,Paints | 1.97% |
| 16. | Maruti Suzuki India | Cars & Utility Vehicles | 1.72% |
| 17. | Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. | Cars & Utility Vehicles | 1.68% |
| 18. | Titan Co | Other Apparels & Accessories | 1.65% |
| 19. | HCL Tech | IT Consulting & Software | 1.62% |
| 20. | Sun Pharma | Pharmaceuticals | 1.52% |
| 21. | UltraTech Cement | Cement & Cement Products | 1.27% |
| 22. | Tata Steel | Iron & Steel/Interm.Products | 1.27% |
| 23. | NTPC | Electric Utilities | 1.2% |
| 24. | Power Grid | Electric Utilities | 1.19% |
| 25. | Bajaj Finserv | Finance (including NBFCs) | 1.19% |
| 26. | Nestle India | Packaged Foods | 1.14% |
| 27. | IndusInd Bank | Banks | 1.01% |
| 28. | Tech Mahindra | IT Consulting & Software | 0.94% |
| 29. | Dr Reddy’s Labs | Pharmaceuticals | 0.87% |
| 30. | Wipro | IT Consulting & Software | 0.81% |
It is important to note that the weightage of each company in Sensex can change over time, depending on the company’s performance and the prevailing market conditions.
The top 10 stocks represent almost 66.06% of the total weightage of Sensex 30 companies. The other 20 stocks also have their respective weightage, but their contribution to the index is relatively less.
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FAQs
In the Sensex 30 index, Reliance Industries Ltd. holds the highest weightage among the constituents of 30 stocks, with a weightage of 11.95% in May 2023.
Sensex 30 index consists of top performing 30 companies selected on the basis of its free-float market capitalization.
Yes, you can invest in Sensex through mutual funds that track the performance of the index.
The banking sector holds the highest weightage of 31.86% in the Sensex 30.
The Sensex is calculated in real-time during market hours and updated every 15 seconds.
You can calculate the S&P BSE SENSEX using the “Free-float Market Capitalization” methodology.
This methodology takes into account the free-float market value of the 30 component stocks relative to a base period. To calculate the market capitalization of a company, the stock price is multiplied by the number of shares issued.
The resulting market capitalization is then multiplied by the free-float factor to determine the free-float market capitalization, which is used in the calculation of the index.
The S&P BSE Sensex is a stock market index that tracks the performance of the 30 most significant and financially stable companies across key sectors of the Indian economy listed on the BSE Ltd.
The base year of Sensex is 1978-79 and the base value is 100 index points.
Base Sensex is worked out on the basis of 100 % of free float × prevailing price.This is on the basis of 30 shares.But by taking free float constant ,multiplied by changing price of share the Sensex will not reflect real mkt picture.To reflect current mkt condition changing volume also must be considered……which is not !!