Secondary Market :

The secondary market enables those who hold securities to adjust their holdings in response to changes in their assessment of risk and return. They also sell securities for cash to meet their liquidity needs. The price signals, which subsume all information about the issuer and his business including associated risk generated in the secondary market, help the primary market in allocation of funds.

Secondary market essentially comprises of stock exchanges which provide platform for purchase and sale of securities by investors. The trading platform of stock exchanges are accessible only through brokers and trading of securities is confined only to stock exchanges.

The stock market or secondary market ensures free marketability, negotiability and price discharge. For these reasons the stock market is referred to as the nerve centre of the capital market, reflecting the economic trend as well as the hopes, aspirations and apprehensions of the investors.

This secondary market has further two components, First, the spot market where securities are traded for immediate delivery and payment, The other is futures market where the securities are traded for future delivery and payment. Another variant is the options market where securities are traded for conditional future delivery. Generally, two types of options are traded in the options market. A put option permits the owner to sell a security to the writer of the option at a pre-determined price before a certain date, while a call option permits the buyer to purchase a security from the writer of the option at a particular price before a certain date.