The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) is the oldest stock exchange in the country, while the National Stock Exchange (NSE) is by far the largest stock exchange in the country.

Is it advantageous to buy and sell shares at BSE or NSE?

Well, the only advantage that a investor will have is in terms of price. So, if you are buying a share online you can look at the price on both the exchanges and buy where the price is lower. Again, if you are selling a share you can look at the price on both the exchanges and sell at the exchange where it is higher.

For example, if you want to sell Reliance and if you see on the BSE the stock is quoting at Rs 900 and NSE it is quoting at Rs 901, you are better off selling shares on the NSE.

However, this will make sense only for market orders. If you want to place a limit order to sell Reliance shares at Rs 910 it does not make a difference on which exchange you want to sell. There is no other difference in buying on either exchange for a limit order.

The brokerage charged by the broker, the Securities Transaction Tax are all the same on either of the exchanges.

The volumes of shares is generally higher on the NSE, which means if you are selling sizeable quantities the NSE could be a better proposition. It is almost impossible to get similar prices on both the exchanges. There is bound to be some price differential.

Also, some shares are not traded on the NSE, which will force you to buy or sell the shares on the BSE. For example, Claris Lifesciences, Spice Jet are examples of stocks that are not traded on the NSE.

Interestingly, the largest number of stocks in the world are listed on the BSE.

Conclusion

If you have really large quantities to sell, you could do it on the NSE, as the volumes are huge and price discovery maybe better. This is specially for shares that are not very liquid.

Otherwise, there is no difference between the NSE and the BSE.

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