{"id":14434,"date":"2026-05-27T07:42:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:42:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/glossary\/hidden-order\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T07:42:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:42:48","slug":"hidden-order","status":"publish","type":"glossary","link":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/glossary\/hidden-order\/","title":{"rendered":"Hidden Order"},"content":{"rendered":"

A hidden order<\/a> (also called a dark order or iceberg order<\/a>) is an order placed on a stock exchange<\/a> where all or most of the order quantity is not visible to other market participants. Only a small portion (the displayed quantity) is shown in the public order book, while the rest is hidden.<\/p>\n

What Is a Hidden Order?<\/h2>\n

In most exchanges, the order book is visible to all participants, showing buy and sell orders with their quantities and prices. A hidden order shows either:
\n– Zero quantity (fully hidden): the order’s existence is known only when it executes
\n– Partial quantity (iceberg order): only the disclosed portion is visible; as each tranche executes, the next tranche appears<\/p>\n

This prevents other traders from detecting large buying or selling interest that could move the market.<\/p>\n

Hidden Orders vs Disclosed Quantity<\/a> Orders<\/h2>\n

These terms are closely related:
\n– **Disclosed quantity orders**: show only a portion; as one tranche fills, the next is revealed at the original price
\n– **Fully hidden orders**: not visible in the order book at all; execute only when a matching order appears<\/p>\n

Why Use Hidden Orders?<\/h2>\n

– **Institutional investor<\/a>s**: prevent price discovery of their large trades before execution
\n– **Reduce market impact**: announcing a large buy or sell often causes prices to move against the order
\n– **Competitive trading<\/a>**: prevent front-running by high-frequency traders who detect large orders<\/p>\n

Regulatory Perspective<\/h2>\n

SEBI<\/a> allows disclosed quantity orders on NSE<\/a> and BSE<\/a> with a minimum display requirement (usually 10% of total order). Fully dark or hidden orders are less common on Indian exchanges; institutional dark pools operate through alternative mechanisms.<\/p>\n

Practical Example<\/h2>\n

A mutual fund<\/a> wants to accumulate 5 lakh shares<\/a> of a small-cap stock over a week. Showing the full order would cause the price to spike as other traders anticipated the demand. Instead, the fund uses iceberg orders showing only 5,000 shares at a time. The large order is gradually filled without significantly alerting the market.<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n

– Hidden orders conceal all or most of the order quantity from the public order book
\n– Iceberg orders show only a portion (disclosed quantity); the rest is hidden and revealed tranche by tranche
\n– Used by institutional investors to prevent market impact and front-running of large orders
\n– SEBI requires a minimum disclosed quantity of 10% for equity<\/a> orders on Indian exchanges
\n– Dark liquidity<\/a> and hidden orders are more prevalent in international markets; India requires partial disclosure<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A hidden order (also called a dark order or iceberg order) is an order placed on a stock exchange where all or most of the order quantity is not visible to other market participants. Only a small portion (the displayed quantity) is shown in the public order book, while the rest is hidden. What Is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14434","glossary","type-glossary","status-publish","hentry"],"blocksy_meta":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"web-stories-poster-portrait":false,"web-stories-publisher-logo":false,"web-stories-thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Team Lemonn","author_link":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/author\/ashu\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"A hidden order (also called a dark order or iceberg order) is an order placed on a stock exchange where all or most of the order quantity is not visible to other market participants. Only a small portion (the displayed quantity) is shown in the public order book, while the rest is hidden. What Is…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/14434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/glossary"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/glossary\/14434\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lemonn.co.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}