Bracket Order: Meaning and Availability in India

Bracket order meaning in one minute

A bracket order is one instruction made of three parts, called legs. Leg one is the entry. Leg two is the target, a sell order above your buy price (or a buy order below your sell price) to take profit. Leg three is the stop-loss, an order on the other side to limit the loss. The two exit legs are linked, so when one executes the other is meant to be cancelled. That link is called one-cancels-the-other, or OCO.

Think of the entry as the middle and the target and stop as the brackets on either side of it. Price should end up touching one bracket, and the order closes. Whether your broker offers it is a separate question, covered below.

Do not assume your broker offers it. Bracket orders are no longer common: Zerodha has disabled them since March 2020 and FYERS replaced them with linked Smart Stop-loss and Target orders (see the table below), while a few brokers such as Choice and Samco still document them. Many Indian traders now place the stop and target by hand or with a linked-exit feature, so check your own order screen first.

A bracket order (BO) links an entry with a profit target and stop-loss, the planned exit if price moves against you. After entry, the exits work as one-cancels-the-other, meaning execution of one is meant to cancel the other. Availability depends on the broker, platform and instrument. Bracket orders have not disappeared across India, and an attached stop cannot guarantee the loss amount.

What the linked orders are meant to do

• Entry: opens the position at the permitted price and quantity.
• Target: attempts to close at the chosen profit-taking price.
• Stop-loss: activates the protective exit when its condition is met.
• Cancellation link: attempts to remove the alternative exit after an exit executes.

A leg means one part of the order arrangement. The broker's design determines when each leg is sent, which price conditions it accepts and how partial executions are handled. The generic bracket name does not prove that every platform behaves identically.

For a purchase, the example target is above entry and the stop below it. A short sale reverses those directions. A trailing stop, where the stop can follow a favourable move, is a separate feature to verify rather than an automatic part of every bracket.

Bracket order vs cover order

A cover order guarantees you have a stop in place. A bracket order also fixes the profit level. Neither guarantees the price at which the stop executes. See cover order for its own page.

Are bracket orders only for intraday?

They are usually described as intraday products. That means open positions are squared off by the broker near the close if you do not exit, so check the cut-off time and the extra charge your broker applies. See square-off. What happens to a bracket order at the close depends on the broker, so read their terms and do not assume it carries overnight.

Availability is a broker-specific question

Check the actual order screen and current instrument restrictions before relying on any row. A broker's app documentation does not establish that its external trading interface offers the same workflow. A renamed linked-exit feature can also have different trigger and cancellation rules.

Zerodha's BO/CO calculator page still describes bracket orders and cover orders across several segments. Its Kite support pages instead say BO is disabled and CO is unavailable on BSE or F&O. These official pages conflict on both products. Check the explicit support restrictions and ask the broker if the account screen is unclear.

Why a linked stop cannot guarantee the loss amount

Zerodha's explanation of its withdrawal describes a fast market where target and stop orders both execute before cancellation completes, leaving an unintended position. The cancellation link is an operating mechanism, not proof that a second execution is impossible.

A gap can also make the actual stop execution worse than planned. A stop-limit exit may remain unfilled if its price restriction cannot be met. Compare stop-loss orders and stop-limit orders before treating a trigger as an assured exit.

Trailing stop-loss in a bracket order

A trailing stop-loss follows price by a set distance once the trade moves your way. Where a broker offers it inside a bracket order, you enter a trailing amount, and the stop moves up with each favourable step of that size but never moves back. Not every platform offers this, so treat it as a feature to verify. See trailing stop-loss.

Fictional example, a buy at ₹500 with a first stop at ₹490, a trail of ₹5 and a target at ₹520. Price rises to ₹505, so the stop moves to ₹495. Price reaches ₹510, so the stop moves to ₹500. If price then falls to ₹500, the trade exits at the stop near breakeven before costs, even though the target was never touched. Trailing can lock in part of a move, but it can also exit a trade just before price continues higher.

How to copy a bracket order manually

If your broker has no bracket order, you can build the same idea by hand. Check the broker's screen for what is offered, since names differ.

• Place the entry order and wait for it to execute fully.
• Place the stop-loss order for the executed quantity.
• Place the target order, or use a linked-exit feature such as a GTT or OCO where the broker offers one. See GTT order.
• When one exit executes, cancel the other yourself unless the broker links them.
• Check the order book and position at the end to confirm nothing is left pending.

Without a link, a forgotten second exit can open a new position in the opposite direction. This is the main risk of doing it by hand.

A simple worked example in shares

This is a fictional cash-share trade, unrelated to any current stock quote or supported broker screen. Assume 50 shares bought at ₹500, target ₹520 and planned stop ₹490, with full executions at those levels.

• Target profit before costs: (₹520 − ₹500) × 50 = ₹1,000.
• Planned stop loss before costs: (₹500 − ₹490) × 50 = ₹500.
• Gross reward divided by risk: ₹1,000 ÷ ₹500 = 2.

Now assume an invented ₹100 total round-trip cost in either outcome. The win becomes ₹900 and the loss ₹600. The after-cost ratio is ₹900 ÷ ₹600 = 1.5. This illustrates how costs affect both outcomes; it is not an actual tariff estimate.

If the stop instead executes at a hypothetical ₹485, the gross loss is (₹500 − ₹485) × 50 = ₹750 before charges. The stop setting has not capped the loss at the original planned amount.

Worked example on index futures

Fictional prices, not a quote or a recommendation. Suppose a trader plans one lot of Nifty futures. NSE's lot size for Nifty is 65. Assume a buy at 25,000, a target at 25,050 and a stop at 24,975.

• Target profit before costs: (25,050 − 25,000) × 65 = ₹3,250.
• Planned loss before costs: (25,000 − 24,975) × 65 = ₹1,625.
• Reward divided by risk: 3,250 ÷ 1,625 = 2.

If a fast market gaps through the stop and it executes at 24,960, the loss is (25,000 − 24,960) × 65 = ₹2,600 before costs, not ₹1,625. A bracket gives a plan. It does not cap the loss.

Bracket order, cover order and GTT triggers

Zerodha currently documents cover orders for intraday trading with segment restrictions, including no BSE or F&O availability. Discontinuation of its BO therefore does not mean all its cover orders have disappeared. See cover orders and GTT orders for separate definitions.

A basket, meaning a group of orders submitted together, also does not establish a cancellation link. If you place separate exits, you must understand the live quantity and cancellation status yourself. Otherwise an exit left behind after closing can open a new reverse position.

Checks before relying on attached exits

• Confirm whether the selected instrument permits this order product.
• Check the allowed entry and exit order types, margin and session restrictions.
• Read what happens after partial entry or partial exit.
• Verify whether manual closing also cancels every pending exit.
• After an exit, check remaining position and order status.

An attached stop is not evidence of extra borrowing power. Use the broker's current required margin and avoid sizing from old leverage screenshots. OneTradeJournal can record the planned stop, target and actual outcome by hand; it does not manage linked broker orders.

Pros and cons of bracket orders

• Pro: the stop and target are set at the moment of entry, which supports discipline.
• Pro: one instruction replaces three separate orders, so fewer steps in a fast market.
• Pro: the linked cancellation reduces the chance of a forgotten exit.
• Con: gaps and fast moves can execute the stop worse than planned.
• Con: in a very fast market both exits can fill before cancellation completes, as Zerodha described.
• Con: rules vary by broker, instrument and time, and some brokers have withdrawn the product.
• Con: a rigid target can cut a winning trade short.

After the trade, log the planned target, stop and the actual exit in your journal. OneTradeJournal records these by hand and has no link to broker orders, so it shows whether you followed your plan, but it does not place or manage orders.

Sources

• Zerodha's BO withdrawal explanation; checked 16 October 2026.
• Choice BO workflow; checked 16 October 2026.
• Samco app BO support; checked 16 October 2026.
• FYERS linked-exit replacement; checked 16 October 2026.
• Zerodha current CO restrictions; checked 16 October 2026.
• Conflicting Zerodha BO calculator description; checked 16 October 2026.