India, Oct. 9 -- For anyone tracking Indian equity markets, GIFT Nifty has become an unavoidable reference point. Yet beyond its role as a morning indicator, there is quite a bit that most retail investors do not fully understand about how it works, who participates, and what it actually means for their portfolio. Here are six things worth knowing.

The two are connected, but they are not the same thing and should not be treated as such. The Nifty 50 tracks fifty large-cap Indian companies and serves as the benchmark index for domestic markets. GIFT Nifty is a dollar-denominated futures contract based on that index, but it trades on the NSE International Exchange (NSE IX) inside GIFT City, under the IFSCA's regulatory framework rather tha...