GTT Orders Explained: Good Till Triggered Order Basics
A GTT, or Good Till Triggered order, is a standing instruction you leave with your broker that stays alive for up to a year. It sits on the broker’s server, not in the exchange order book, and only becomes a real order when the stock’s last traded price crosses the trigger you set. Until then, the exchange has no idea it exists.
That single detail explains almost everything else about GTT. NSE and BSE accept order validity of only one day, or immediate-or-cancel. There is no genuine good-till-cancelled facility in the Indian cash market, so brokers built GTT to imitate one. It is a convenience feature, not an exchange guarantee.
How a GTT is placed and triggered
You supply two prices for each leg. The trigger price is the level that wakes the instruction up. The limit price is the price at which the broker then places the order on the exchange.
- You create the GTT with a trigger price, a limit price, a quantity and a product type, usually delivery.
- The broker stores it and shows it in a separate GTT tab, not in the normal order book.
- Nothing is blocked while it waits. No margin, no funds, no shares are earmarked.
- When the last traded price touches or crosses the trigger, the broker fires a limit order to the exchange.
- That order behaves like any ordinary day order. If it does not fill by the close, it lapses.
Single leg versus one cancels the other
A single leg GTT does one job, such as buying a stock if it falls to a level you like. An OCO, or one cancels the other, has two legs on an existing holding: a stop loss below and a target above. Whichever triggers first cancels the other automatically. Most brokers allow OCO only against shares already in your demat account.
A worked example on a Rs 1,450 stock
Suppose you hold 50 shares bought at Rs 1,450 and want protection at Rs 1,380 while booking out at Rs 1,600. An OCO GTT would be set as follows. All prices must respect the tick size of Rs 0.05.
| Leg | Trigger price | Limit price | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stop loss | Rs 1,380 | Rs 1,372 | Sell order placed once the price falls to the trigger |
| Target | Rs 1,600 | Rs 1,594 | Sell order placed once the price rises to the trigger |
Notice the gap between trigger and limit. If the stock opens at Rs 1,300 after bad results, the stop leg triggers but a limit at Rs 1,372 sits well above the market and never fills. You are still holding the stock, now 10% lower. A wider gap improves the chance of a fill but gives you a worse price. There is no setting that removes this trade-off.
The limits you must know before relying on GTT
- No execution guarantee. The trigger only creates an order. Gaps, circuit limits and thin volume can leave it unfilled.
- Broker dependency. If the broker’s systems are down at the moment of the trigger, the order may not reach the exchange. The exchange holds nothing on your behalf.
- Funds and shares must be there. A buy GTT that triggers with an empty account gets rejected for margin. A sell GTT needs the shares in demat at that moment.
- Corporate actions cancel them. Brokers routinely delete GTT orders around record dates for splits, bonus issues, dividends and consolidations, since the old price is meaningless.
- Trigger range caps. Brokers restrict how far the trigger can sit from the current price, and how far the limit can sit from the trigger, often a few percent.
- Coverage varies. GTT is generally offered for equity delivery, sometimes for futures and options, and is usually blocked in the BE series and in stocks under surveillance measures.
Where a GTT genuinely helps
Investors who cannot watch the screen get the most from it. Setting a buy trigger on a large cap you have researched, with a limit you are happy to pay, removes the need to react in real time. Long-term holders use OCO to keep a disaster stop under a position without renewing a stop loss every morning.
Active traders should be careful about substituting GTT for a proper stop loss order placed in the live market. A stop loss market order sitting at the exchange during the session will fill at some price. A GTT will not even exist at the exchange until the trigger fires, and by then the price may have run past your limit. Use it as a safety net, not as a primary exit tool in fast moving positions.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a GTT order stay active?
Most brokers keep it alive for up to one year from the date of creation, after which it expires automatically. It also ends when it triggers, when you cancel it, or when a corporate action forces deletion. Check the expiry date shown against each instruction.
Does a GTT order block my margin or my shares?
No. Nothing is reserved while the order waits, which is why you can set several instructions at once. The flip side is that the required funds or shares must actually be available at the moment the trigger fires, otherwise the order is rejected.
Can I place a GTT for intraday trading?
Brokers normally offer it for delivery products only, and some extend it to futures and options. Even where allowed, a GTT that triggers late in the session leaves very little time to exit before the intraday square-off window, which defeats the purpose.
What is the difference between GTT and a stop loss order?
A stop loss order is placed with the exchange for that session and rests in the exchange system. A GTT rests with the broker across sessions and is converted into an exchange order only after the trigger. One offers same day certainty of presence, the other offers duration.
Why did my GTT trigger without executing?
The trigger fired, but the limit order that followed found no matching price. This happens in gap openings, when the stock hits a circuit limit, or when the limit price is set too tight against the trigger. Review the rejected or lapsed order in your order book to confirm.
Key Takeaways
- GTT is a broker-side standing instruction, since Indian exchanges support only day and IOC validity.
- Each leg needs a trigger price to activate and a limit price for the order that follows.
- Triggering does not mean executing, and gap openings often leave the limit order unfilled.
- No funds or shares are blocked while pending, but they must be available at the trigger moment.
- Brokers cancel GTT orders around corporate actions and restrict them in T2T and surveillance stocks.
