Guide
What is a GTT order?
A GTT order — short for Good Till Triggered — is a standing instruction you set in advance that waits, often for many months, until the stock reaches a price you define. Only when that trigger price is touched does the system place your actual buy or sell order in the market. It lets you act on a price level without watching the screen all day. A GTT is a placement tool, not a buy or sell recommendation.
How a GTT order works
You create a GTT by choosing the stock, a trigger price, and the order that should fire when that price is hit — usually a limit order with its own price and quantity. The instruction then sits dormant on the system. Nothing happens to your capital or holdings until the market actually trades at or through your trigger.
When the stock touches the trigger, the GTT converts into a live order and is sent to the exchange like any normal order. From that point it behaves exactly as the underlying order type you chose — it can fill fully, partially, or not at all, depending on available liquidity. The trigger only starts the process; it does not guarantee a fill at the trigger price itself.
Why GTT orders exist
Most regular orders on NSE and BSE are valid only for the current trading day. If your order does not execute by the close, it lapses and you must re-enter it the next morning. For someone tracking a level that may take weeks to arrive, that daily re-entry is tedious and easy to forget.
A GTT solves this by remaining valid for a long, broker-defined window — commonly up to a year. You set the level once and the system watches it for you. This makes GTTs popular with longer-term investors and anyone who wants to plan an entry or exit around a price rather than around their availability to trade.
Single and two-leg GTT orders
A single GTT has one trigger and one resulting order — for example, buy a stock if it falls to a level you consider attractive, or sell if it rises to a target. It is the simplest form and the easiest to reason about.
A two-leg GTT (sometimes called an OCO, or one-cancels-other, structure offered by many broker terminals) attaches both a target and a stop-loss to a holding you already own. If price rises to the target, that leg fires and the other is cancelled; if price falls to the stop level instead, the protective leg fires. Only one of the two can execute, which is the point of the structure.
A worked rupee example
Suppose a stock trades at ₹1,000 and you would only buy it on a dip to ₹900. You set a single GTT with a trigger of ₹900 and a buy limit order at, say, ₹902 for 50 shares. The instruction waits. If weeks later the stock falls and trades at ₹900, the GTT activates and your limit order goes to the exchange, filling up to ₹902.
Now suppose instead you already hold the 50 shares and want to protect them. A two-leg GTT might set a target sell at ₹1,200 and a stop-loss trigger at ₹850. Whichever level the market reaches first fires that leg and cancels the other — locking in either the planned exit or the protective exit, but never both.
Limits and cautions with GTT orders
A GTT is only a trigger to place an order; it is not a promise of execution. If a stock gaps sharply past your trigger at the open — common on Indian stocks reacting to results or news — the resulting limit order may sit unfilled because price has already moved beyond your limit. The trigger fired, but the market never offered your price.
GTTs also need housekeeping. They can be cancelled or modified by corporate actions such as splits, bonuses or dividends, and most brokers expire them after their validity window, requiring you to recreate them. They are a convenience for patient, level-based planning — not a substitute for understanding the order that actually fires.
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
What does GTT mean in the stock market?
+GTT stands for Good Till Triggered. It is a standing instruction that stays active for a long period, often up to a year, and only places your actual buy or sell order when the stock reaches a trigger price you set in advance. It saves you from re-entering the same order every day while you wait for a price level.
How long does a GTT order last?
+A GTT typically remains valid for an extended window set by the broker, commonly up to one year, after which it expires and must be recreated. This is the main difference from a normal order, which is usually valid only for the current trading day. The exact maximum validity varies between broker terminals.
Does a GTT order guarantee execution at my trigger price?
+No. A GTT only places your order once the trigger price is touched; it does not guarantee a fill at that price. If the underlying order is a limit order and the stock gaps past your level, the order can remain unfilled because the market never traded at your limit. The trigger starts the process but execution still depends on liquidity and price.
What is a two-leg GTT order?
+A two-leg GTT, sometimes called a one-cancels-other structure, attaches both a target and a stop-loss to a holding you already own. If price reaches the target, that leg executes and the stop leg is cancelled; if price falls to the stop first, the protective leg executes instead. Only one of the two legs can ever fire.
Can I use a GTT order on NSE and BSE stocks?
+Yes, GTT functionality is offered by most broker terminals for stocks listed on NSE and BSE, subject to each broker's rules on eligible instruments and validity. It is widely used by longer-term investors who want to plan entries and exits around price levels rather than monitoring the market continuously.