What is a day order
A day order is an order that stays active only until the end of the current trading session. If it is not filled by then, the system cancels it.
An order is an instruction to buy or sell at a stated price or condition. A session is the period during which the market or the broker's server accepts and executes trades for a given instrument.
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Formal definition
A day order is an order whose time-in-force is limited to the trading day on which it was entered. Any unfilled quantity expires at session close as defined by the venue or broker. "Time-in-force" is the rule that says how long an order stays live.
Edge cases an experienced trader should know:
- Partial fills. If only part of the order is filled, the filled part stays as an open position and the rest is cancelled at session close. See fill and partial fill.
- Which "day". The cut-off follows the server or exchange clock, not your local time in Pakistan. The day may end at an hour that is not midnight for you.
- Instruments with breaks. Some CFDs on indices or energies pause during the day. A day order may survive a short break and still expire at the official session end. Check how your platform handles this for each symbol.
- Halts. If trading is halted, for example by a circuit breaker, an unfilled day order can expire without any chance to fill.
- Opening and closing auctions. On exchanges, day orders may or may not take part in opening and closing auctions, depending on the venue's rules.
Worked example (hypothetical)
A trader watches a currency pair during the European session. They place a buy limit order below the current price with time-in-force set to "day". A buy limit order executes only at the stated price or better.
- If the price falls to the limit level before session close, the order fills and becomes an open position.
- If the price never reaches the level, the order is deleted automatically at the end of the server day. The trader sees it in history as expired, not as cancelled by them.
The trader takes on no position overnight from this order. If the order fills, the open position is a separate matter. It carries normal market risk and, if held past rollover, swap charges.
Day order vs GTC
| Feature | Day order | GTC (good till cancelled) |
|---|---|---|
| How long it lives | Until the end of the current session | Until filled or until you cancel it |
| If not filled | Expires automatically | Stays in the order book |
| Risk of a forgotten order | Lower | Higher: an old order can fill weeks later |
| Typical use | Intraday entries | Levels you want to keep live for a longer period |
Related time-in-force types are fill or kill and IOC, which act immediately, and orders with a set expiry date.
Where you see the term
- MetaTrader 5. In the pending order window, the expiration field offers options such as "GTC", "Today", "Specified" and "Specified day". "Today" is the day order. See MetaTrader 5.
- MetaTrader 4. There is no named day type. You can set an expiry time on a pending order to get the same effect. See MetaTrader 4.
- Reports. In an account statement, expired day orders appear in order history with status "expired".
- Exchange news and rules. Venue notices on holiday hours or early closes affect when day orders expire.
An expiry rule controls how long an order stays live. It does not limit losses. Leveraged forex and CFD trading can lose money fast, and a stop-loss is a separate order type. See risk management.
Frequent questions
What does day order mean in simple words?
It is an order that is cancelled automatically if it is not filled by the end of the trading session.
Is a day order the same as a stop-loss?
No. "Day" describes how long the order stays live. A stop-loss is a type of order that closes a position at a set price.
What happens to a partly filled day order?
The filled part stays as a position, and the unfilled remainder expires at session close.
Does the day end at midnight Pakistan time?
Not necessarily. It follows the server or exchange clock. Check the session times shown for each instrument in your platform.
Where can I find more terms like this?
In the trading glossary and trading basics.