Open any stock in any Indian broking app and you are shown around twenty numbers at once. Most beginners look at exactly one of them — the last price — and ignore the several that would have told them something useful.
The price block
| Field | What it means | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| LTP | Last traded price — the price of the most recent transaction | Not "the price". It is one trade, possibly for a single share, possibly seconds old in an illiquid stock. |
| Open | First trade of the session, set by the pre-open auction | A large gap from the previous close means overnight news is being priced in. |
| High / Low | Extremes reached during the session | The distance between them is the day’s range — compare it to the stock’s usual range, not to rupees. |
| Prev close | Yesterday’s official close | All percentage change figures are measured against this, not against the open. |
| VWAP | Volume-weighted average price for the session | What the average participant actually paid today. If you bought above VWAP, you paid more than most people did. |
| 52-week high / low | Extremes over the last year | Distance from the 52-week high is one of the most useful single momentum filters that exists. |
Market depth — the part beginners skip
Most apps show five levels of bids and five of asks, with quantities. This is the single most informative panel on the screen and almost nobody looks at it.
- A wide spread relative to the price means the stock is illiquid, and every round trip costs you real money before the price moves at all.
- Thin quantities at each level mean your own order could move the price. If the total quantity across five levels is 4,000 shares and you want 3,000, you are the market today.
- Total buy versus total sell quantity hints at short-term pressure, but treat it with suspicion — large participants routinely place and cancel orders they never intend to fill.
Delivery percentage
- High (above ~60%)
- Most buyers are taking delivery — genuine investment interest
- Low (under ~25%)
- Mostly intraday churn that squared off before the close
Example: A stock up 8% on 70% delivery is a very different event from a stock up 8% on 15% delivery. The first is people buying to own; the second is traders passing a position around and closing it by 3:30. Exchanges publish this daily, after the session.
Circuit limits
Every Indian stock has a daily price band — 5%, 10% or 20% depending on its category. Hitting the upper circuit means there are only buyers and no sellers; hitting the lower circuit means the reverse, and your sell order simply queues with no one on the other side.
A two-minute pre-purchase routine
- 1Check the spread and depth
Is the bid-ask gap trivial relative to the price? Are there meaningful quantities on both sides? If not, reconsider or size down sharply.
- 2Compare today’s volume to normal
Unusual volume means something happened. Find out what it was before assuming the price move is about the business.
- 3Note position within the 52-week range
Near the high, near the low, or in the middle? Each is a completely different situation, and it frames everything else.
- 4Use a limit order
Set it at or just inside the current ask. You give up certainty of a fill and gain certainty of price — usually the better trade.
A smallcap is up 12% today. Delivery percentage is 11% and the five-level order book shows a total of 2,800 shares on the sell side. What should you conclude?
Sabzi wale ke board pe likha hai: aaj ka bhaav, subah ka bhaav, din bhar ka sabse ooncha-neecha, aur kitna maal bika. Stock quote bilkul wahi board hai — LTP aaj ka bhaav, Open subah ka, High-Low din ka range, aur Volume matlab kitna maal haath badla. Naya kuch nahi, bas naam angrezi mein hain.
- LTP is one trade, not "the price". The official close is a 30-minute weighted average.
- Market depth is the most informative panel on the screen and the most ignored.
- Delivery percentage separates genuine buying from intraday churn.
- A lower-circuit lock means you cannot sell at all — a real Indian smallcap risk.
- Check spread, volume and 52-week position before every purchase.
Mark it done to track your progress through the curriculum.
Common questions
Short, direct answers to what people ask about this topic.
- what does LTP mean in share market
- LTP stands for Last Traded Price — the price at which the most recent trade in that stock actually happened. It is the number you usually see quoted as “the price”, but it can differ from the bid and ask, and it only tells you the last transaction, not the price your own order will get.
- what is delivery percentage in stock
- Delivery percentage is the share of a day’s traded volume that resulted in actual delivery to demat accounts, rather than being bought and sold within the same day (intraday). A higher delivery percentage suggests more investors are taking genuine ownership rather than trading in and out, which many read as a sign of conviction behind the move.
- what is upper circuit and lower circuit in share market
- Circuit limits are the maximum percentage a stock (or index) is allowed to move up or down in a single day before trading is curbed — the upper circuit caps the rise, the lower circuit caps the fall. They are set by the exchange to check extreme volatility; when a stock hits its upper circuit, buyers pile in but there are often no sellers, so trades stall at that price.
- what does VWAP tell you
- VWAP (Volume Weighted Average Price) is the average price at which a stock has traded through the day, weighted by the volume at each price — so it reflects where most of the actual trading happened, not a simple mid-point. Traders use it as a reference for whether they are buying above or below the day’s typical transacting price.
- what is the 52-week high and low of a stock
- The 52-week high and low are the highest and lowest prices a stock has traded at over the past year, giving quick context for where the current price sits in its recent range. A price near the 52-week high or low is simply a fact about range, not by itself a signal to buy or sell.