How to short sell shares in equity and futures? (2024)

A short sale (or short sell) is a trade taken when a trader feels that the price of the security is likely to decline from its current price. In a short sale transaction, the security is sold first and bought back later on.

Equity

To short in Equity (EQ) segment, the order must be placed using intraday order type, i.e. MIS (Margin Intraday Square Off) or CO (Cover Order). This is because short positions in the equity segment cannot be carried or held overnight. To learn more, see What does CNC, MIS and NRML mean?

If the short position or the sell position in the equity segment is not exited (bought back) before 3:20 PM, the position will be squared off by Zerodha, and auto square-off charges will be applied. To learn more, see What are call and trade (auto square off) charges? However, the onus of squaring off positions is on the client, not the broker. If the client or the broker fails to square off the short position on the same day due to various reasons like stock hitting the upper circuit or lack of liquidity, it may result in short delivery. To learn more, see What is short delivery and what are its consequences?

Equity Futures

A futures contract can be shorted and can be carried or held overnight, unlike short selling in the equity segment, where the position must be squared off on the same day. To place a sell order for futures contract, MIS (for intraday) or NRML (for overnight) product type can be used to place a sell order. However, If a futures contract is traded using MIS, it must be converted to NRML to carry it overnight or must be squared off before 3:25 PM to avoid auto square-off charges. To learn more about futures and shorting, visit zerodha.com/varsity/module/futures-trading and zerodha.com/varsity/chapter/shorting.

How to short sell shares in equity and futures? (2024)

FAQs

How do you short sell equity shares? ›

To short in Equity (EQ) segment, the order must be placed using intraday order type, i.e. MIS (Margin Intraday Square Off) or CO (Cover Order). This is because short positions in the equity segment cannot be carried or held overnight.

How to short sell successfully? ›

Successful short selling relies on thorough market analysis. This involves understanding market trends, financial statements, and other indicators that suggest a stock might decrease in price. Entering and exiting positions at the right moment can make the difference between profit and loss.

How do you short sell in futures? ›

Once you click on sell you have to enter the no. of quantity you want to trade and select the option between market or limit. You can also choose to add a stop loss by enabling the “Add stop-loss trigger” toggle. You also have an option to switch to MIS order (intraday) by enabling the “Auto square off” toggle.

How do you calculate short selling shares? ›

It is calculated by taking the entire number of shorted shares for a corporation and dividing that number by the number of currently outstanding shares. You can easily identify the long and short sentiment on moomoo's short sell analysis function and then find out more investment opportunities.

How do you short-sell a stock for dummies? ›

Short selling a stock is when a trader borrows shares from a broker and immediately sells them with the expectation that the share price will fall shortly after. If it does, the trader can buy the shares back at the lower price, return them to the broker, and keep the difference, minus any loan interest, as profit.

What is a short selling example? ›

For example, let's say a stock is trading at $50 a share. You borrow 100 shares and sell them for $5,000. The price subsequently declines to $25 a share, at which point you purchase 100 shares to replace those you borrowed, netting $2,500.

What is the 10% rule for short selling? ›

The Alternative Uptick Rule

The rule is triggered when a stock price falls at least 10% in one day. At that point, short selling is permitted if the price is above the current best bid. 1 This aims to preserve investor confidence and promote market stability during periods of stress and volatility.

What is the best strategy for short trading? ›

As a general rule in short-term trading, you want to set your sell stop or buy stop within 10% to 15% of where you bought the stock or initiated the short. The idea is to keep losses manageable so gains will be considerably more than the inevitable losses you incur.

Why is short selling difficult? ›

Because in a short sale, shares are sold on margin, relatively small rises in the price can lead to even more significant losses. The holder must buy back their shares at current market prices to close the position and avoid further losses.

How much margin do I need to short-sell? ›

It requires short trades to have 150% of the value of the position at the time the short is created and be held in a margin account. This 150% is made up of the full value, or 100% of the short plus an additional margin requirement of 50% or half the value of the position.

What is the short futures strategy? ›

A short hedge is one where a short position is taken on a futures contract. It is typically appropriate for a hedger to use when an asset is expected to be sold in the future. Alternatively, it can be used by a speculator who anticipates that the price of a contract will decrease.

What is the penalty for short selling? ›

This can lead to extra payment by the Exchange to purchase the shares of the sellers. The extra expenses are to be paid by the person who has defaulted by short delivery. Apart from the extra expenses, the defaulter also has to bear the penalty of . 05% of the value of the stock on per day basis.

How do you short sell shares? ›

On the trading platform when you are required to short, all you need to do is highlight the stock (or futures contract) you wish to short and press F2 on your trading platform. Doing so invokes the sell order form; enter the quantity and other details before you hit Submit.

What is the formula for short sales? ›

How to Calculate a Short Sale Return. To calculate the return on any short sale, simply determine the difference between the proceeds from the sale and the cost associated with selling off that particular position. This value is then divided by the initial proceeds from the sale of the borrowed shares.

What is the short selling strategy? ›

Here are 5 short selling strategies that you can implement in the market:
  • Selling a Pullback in a Downtrend: ...
  • Entering within a Trading Range and Waiting for a Breakdown: ...
  • Selling into an Active Decline: ...
  • Restrict Your Short Selling to Bear Markets: ...
  • Minimize Risk while Selling Short:
Feb 12, 2024

Is short selling allowed in equity market? ›

India permits investors to engage in short selling, the process of borrowing and then selling a security to profit from its price decline. However, this has not always been the case. From 2001 to 2008, the practice was prohibited after allegations of insider trading contributed to a crash in stock prices.

How do I sell equity shares of a company? ›

First, contact the company to obtain permission to sell your shares. Also, you'll need agreement on the manner of sale. The company can provide you with a valuation of its stock. Next, you'll need to find a buyer.

How do I sell easy equity shares? ›

How to Sell your shares:
  1. Tap on your EasyEquities Portfolio.
  2. Tap the account where the shares you own are held (ZAR, TFSA, USD etc)
  3. Tap the share you want to sell.
  4. Click “Sell”
  5. Decide on a % or amount to sell.
  6. Click “Next”

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