Open any business page or market screen and you will see rows of company names followed by three numbers: price, volume, and change. To a newcomer they look like a secret code. In truth, these three numbers tell a short story about every share, every day — and you can learn to read them in a few minutes.
Price: What One Share Costs Right Now
The price is simply what buyers most recently paid for one share of that company. It is not the company’s worth, and it is not a judgement on whether the share is cheap or expensive. A share priced at Rs 50 is not automatically a bargain, and one at Rs 500 is not automatically costly — that depends on how much the company earns and owns, which is a separate study.
For the imaginary example in this article, suppose there is a made-up company called “Example Foods Limited,” and its share price today is Rs 120. Everything below uses these invented numbers only to explain the ideas; it is not a real company or a real quote.
Volume: How Many Shares Changed Hands
Volume is the number of shares bought and sold during the day. If Example Foods shows a volume of 2,000,000, it means two million of its shares changed hands that day. High volume means many people were active in that share — interest was strong, whether because of news, results, or simple excitement. Very low volume means the share was quiet; few buyers and sellers were around, and the price can jump around more easily because even a small order moves it.
Think of a bazaar. A shop with a crowd outside is busy and its prices are tested by many people. A lonely shop may quote any price, but hardly anyone is actually trading there. Volume tells you how busy the bazaar was.
Change: How Much the Price Moved Today
Change shows how today’s price compares with yesterday’s closing price, written both in rupees and as a percentage. If Example Foods closed yesterday at Rs 116 and today stands at Rs 120, the change is +Rs 4, or about +3.4%. The small arrow or colour — green for up, red for down — shows the direction at a glance.
The percentage matters more than the rupees. A rise of Rs 4 on a Rs 120 share is a solid move of over 3%. The same Rs 4 on a share priced at Rs 2,000 would be a tiny fraction of one percent — hardly worth mentioning. Percentages let you compare movements fairly between a small-priced share and a large one.
Putting the Three Together
Now read our imaginary line in full: Example Foods — Price Rs 120, Volume 2,000,000, Change +Rs 4 (+3.4%). The story: one share costs Rs 120, trading was busy with two million shares exchanged, and the price rose a little over 3% today. That is all a quote claims to say. It does not tell you whether the company is well run or whether the price will rise tomorrow — those questions need the company’s accounts and your own patience. But once the three numbers stop looking like code, the market page becomes readable, and that is the genuine first step for any new investor.
Written for general information only — not investment advice. Please consult your own advisor before investing.