Astock market,equity marketorshare marketis the aggregation of buyers and sellers (a loose network of economic transactions, not a physical facility or discrete entity) ofstocks(also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may includesecuritieslisted on a publicstock exchange, as well as stock that is only traded privately. Examples of the latter include shares of private companies which are sold toinvestorsthroughequity crowdfundingplatforms. Stock exchanges list shares of common equity as well as other security types, e.g. corporate bonds and convertible bonds.

Stocks are categorized in various ways. One way is by the country where the company is domiciled. For example,NestléandNovartisare domiciled in Switzerland, so they may be considered as part of theSwissstock market, although their stock may also be traded on exchanges in other countries, for example, asAmerican depository receipts(ADRs) on U.S. stock markets