Market-wide circuit breakers

Wed, 20 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Market-wide circuit breakers are index-level triggers that pause the entire equity market on extreme moves. They prevent disorderly trading during major events.

Trigger levels

Trigger	Pause duration
10% index move (Nifty 50 or Sensex)	45-minute trading halt
15% move	105-minute halt
20% move	Trading halted for the rest of the day

The triggers apply both ways (up or down).

Historical activations

March 2020 COVID-19 crash: Multiple circuit triggers.
2008 financial crisis: Multiple triggers.
Other rare events since 1999 when the framework was introduced.

In normal markets, circuit breakers rarely trigger.

How to fix a circuit-limit rejection on Zerodha

Tue, 12 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A circuit-limit rejection on Kite arises in two distinct scenarios: a market-wide trading halt triggered by a large index fall, or a per-instrument circuit breaker that limits the maximum price movement for a specific stock or contract. The resolution differs substantially between the two cases.

Understanding which type of circuit applies to your order is the essential first diagnostic step.

Conflict-of-interest disclosure. This guide is published by the WebNotes Editorial Team for informational purposes and is written independently. WebNotes operates a Zerodha account-opening referral programme, disclosed on the pages that carry the referral link; this guide does not carry it and earns no referral commission from the procedure described here.

Circuit Breaker on WebNotes

Market-wide circuit breakers

Trigger levels

Historical activations

How to fix a circuit-limit rejection on Zerodha