Definition
Day Order
A day order is valid only for the trading session in which it is placed; if it is not executed by the close, it is automatically cancelled and does not carry over to the next day.
Most orders placed by Indian retail investors are day orders by default, resting in the book until filled or until the market closes. They are simple and contain no overnight commitment, suiting traders who reassess their orders each session.
Day orders contrast with longer-validity instructions such as GTC (good till cancelled), which the Indian cash market does not natively support, and GTT (good till triggered), a broker-side feature that emulates persistence. The day order is the building block on which validity conditions like IOC and FOK are layered.
Related terms
- After-Market Order (AMO)An after-market order is an order placed outside regular trading hours that is queued by the broker and submitted to the exchange when the market next opens.
- IOC Order (Immediate or Cancel)An Immediate or Cancel order executes immediately against available orders to whatever extent possible, and any unfilled portion is cancelled instantly rather than resting in the order book.
- Good Till Cancelled (GTC) OrderA Good Till Cancelled order remains active across multiple trading sessions until it is either executed or explicitly cancelled by the trader, rather than expiring at the end of the day.
- Good Till Triggered (GTT) OrderA Good Till Triggered order is a broker-side instruction that holds a trade until a specified trigger price is reached, at which point an actual exchange order is placed, valid for an extended period such as a year.
Plain-English explainer from The Dispatch Investors Encyclopedia. General information, not financial advice.