An equity market, also known as a stock market or share market, is a platform where shares of companies are issued and traded, either through exchanges or over-the-counter markets. It is a meeting point for buyers and sellers of stocks, where securities traded can either be public stocks listed on a stock exchange or privately traded stocks. The equity market is one of the most important ways for companies to raise money, along with debt markets. It allows businesses to be publicly traded and raise additional financial capital for expansion by selling shares of ownership of the company in a public market. The liquidity that an exchange affords the investors enables their holders to quickly and easily sell securities.

Equity markets are a method for companies to raise capital and investors to own a piece of a company. The buyer of a share of stock is buying an ownership or equity interest in a company. Stock owners share in a companys success via dividend payments or price growth or both. Equity markets facilitate the raising of equity capital, which is important for entrepreneurs who have a business idea but do not have the capital on-hand to start the business themselves.

Equity markets come in the form of an exchange, which facilitates the trade between buyers and sellers, or over-the-counter (OTC) in which buyers and sellers find each other. The securities market has two segments, the new issues (primary) market and the stock (secondary) market. Trading in the equity market primarily entails the seller fixing a price and a buyer agreeing to pay that price to purchase the security, thus executing a sale.

In summary, an equity market is a hub in which shares of companies are issued and traded, and it plays a pivotal role in supporting a market-based economy by providing capital to companies and investment options for investors.