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Market Structure
Updated 2025-06-04·Editorial policy·Trading system

What is Circuit Breaker?

Exchange pauses or halts trading when price hits daily circuit filters — limits intraday range.

Formula

Indian Index Circuit Breaker Levels: 10% Decline: - Before 1:00 PM: 45-minute halt - 1:00-2:30 PM: 15-minute halt - After 2:30 PM: No halt 15% Decline: - Before 1:00 PM: 1:45 halt - 1:00-2:00 PM: 45-minute halt - After 2:00 PM: Trading stops for day 20% Decline: - Any time: Trading stops for the day Note: Based on Nifty 50 or Sensex, whichever breaches first

Indian market context (NSE)

Reference levels: Nifty 50 at 24,300, Reliance Industries at ₹1,300, Bank Nifty futures at 55,000 (lot size 30). Examples below show how Circuit Breaker shows up on Indian index, equity, and futures books — update to live quotes in your journal.

Nifty 50 perspective

Index-wide circuit halts on Nifty (10/15/20% moves) pause trading across NSE — your stop on 24,300 may not execute until reopen; model gap risk in plan.

Bank Nifty futures perspective

Individual stock circuits do not apply to Bank Nifty futures, but index circuits halt the contract — overnight NRML carries policy event risk.

How to validate

  • Validate Circuit Breaker readings by session tag — open hour stats differ from midday.
  • Check behaviour on gap-up/gap-down days separately on Nifty tags.
  • Correlate with India VIX buckets (calm vs elevated) before changing rules.
  • Confirm liquidity notes were filled on fast-market days.

How to track in TradeLyser

  • Tag session phase and liquidity state on each trade influenced by Circuit Breaker.
  • Daily journal: one line on market structure context (gap, range, trend).
  • Filter analytics by session tag during monthly review.
  • Note India VIX at session open when structure rules depend on volatility.

Best practices

  • Pre-define how Circuit Breaker maps to session tags each quarter.
  • Reduce size on expiry and event sessions when structure breaks.
  • Journal gap days explicitly — averages hide gap risk.
  • Align structure tags with India cash session hours (9:15–15:30).

Common pitfalls

  • Applying midday rules to the opening 15 minutes without adjustment.
  • Trading illiquid names with the same Circuit Breaker assumptions as Nifty.
  • Forgetting overnight gap risk on “intraday” tags.
  • Over-tagging — so many structure labels that review becomes noise.

How to use this in TradeLyser

Tag trades in circuit-hit names; note halt direction in event journal.

Related terms

FAQ

Index circuit breakers?

Index has separate halt rules — know session manual.

Trade circuit touch reversals?

Separate tag — high risk.

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