The stock market is the central marketplace for trading securities. Its role has shifted over time from being seen as an indicator of economic health to being central to the global economy. This shift has been largely due to financialization and the growing dominance of finance markets and institutions. The stock market is also seen as crucial to distributing and creating wealth.

Publicly traded companies are required to disclose a great deal of information on their operations and finances, which helps to create transparency in the market and build investor confidence. This has led to many innovations, such as the creation of ETFs and mutual funds that allow average investors to gain broad exposure to stocks in different industries at a low cost.

A company’s shares are a fractional ownership in the company and represent part of a company’s assets and earnings. A company’s share price is determined by the supply and demand for a company’s shares in the market. If a company has high demand and limited supply, its share price will rise. The opposite is true for a company with low demand and excess supply.

Several factors can affect the price of a stock, including investor perceptions and news (both globally and company-specific). Other influences include liquidity (how easy it is to buy or sell shares in the market), and profitability and market cap. The latter is calculated by multiplying a company’s shares outstanding by its current price per share. The higher the market cap, the more valuable a company is considered to be.