The Bombay Stock Exchange is the oldest exchange in Asia. It traces its history to the 1850s, when 4 Gujarati and 1 Parsi stockbroker would gather under banyan trees in front of Mumbai's Town Hall. The location of these meetings changed many times, as the number of brokers constantly increased. The group eventually moved to Dalal Street in 1874 and in 1875 became an official organization known as 'The Native Share & Stock Brokers Association'. In 1956, the BSE became the first stock exchange to be recognized by the Indian Government under the Securities Contracts Regulation Act.

The Bombay Stock Exchange developed the BSE Sensex in 1986, giving the BSE a means to measure overall performance of the exchange. In 2000 the BSE used this index to open its derivatives market, trading Sensex futures contracts. The development of Sensex options along with equity derivatives followed in 2001 and 2002, expanding the BSE's trading platform. Historically an open outcry floor trading exchange, the Bombay Stock Exchange switched to an electronic trading system in 1995. It took the exchange only fifty days to make this transition. This automated, screen-based trading platform called BSE On-line trading (BOLT) currently has a capacity of 8 million orders per day.

The BSE has also introduced the world's first centralized exchange-based internet trading system, BSEWEBx.co.in to enable investors anywhere in the world to trade on the BSE platform.[6] The BSE is currently housed in Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers at Dalal Street, Fort area.

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