The 'Bid' is the buyer's price. It is this price that you need to know when you have to sell a stock. Bid is the rate/price at which there is a ready buyer for the stock, which you intend to sell.
The 'Ask' (or offer) is what you need to know when you're buying i.e. this is the rate/ price at which there is seller ready to sell his stock. The seller will sell his stock if he gets the quoted 'Ask' price.
If an investor looks at a computer screen for a quote on the stock of say XYZ Ltd, it might look something like this:
Bid (Buy side) Ask (Sell side)
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Qty. Price (Rs.) Price (Rs.) Qty.
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1000 50.25 50.35 2000
500 50.10 50.40 1000
550 50.05 50.50 1500
2500 50.00 50.55 3000
1300 49.85 50.65 1450
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Total 5850 8950
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Here, on the left-hand side after the Bid quantity and price, whereas on the right hand side we find the Ask quantity and prices. The best Buy (Bid) order is the order with the highest price and therefore sits on the first line of the Bid side (1000 shares @ Rs. 50.25). The best Sell (Ask) order is the order with the lowest sell price (2000 shares @ Rs. 50.35). The difference in the price of the best bid and ask is called as the Bid-Ask spread and often is an indicator of liquidity in a stock. The narrower the difference the more liquid or highly traded is the stock.
source:
http://www.sharegyan.com/
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