How to trade in ICICI Direct? Buy/Sell Stocks

A complete guide on how to trade in ICICI Direct to Buy and Sell Stocks: ICICI direct is one of the biggest online brokers for buying or selling a stock on the stock market. Using ICICI direct, you can buy or sell a stock within minutes using your phone/laptop. ICICI direct provides both web and app-based trading platform to their clients.

The brokerage charge for the ICICI direct is a little higher compared to the discount brokers. However, the superior services offered and a very user-friendly & easily understandable interface makes up to that. That’s why over million of users trade in ICICI direct for stocks, derivatives, commodities, and more.

In this post, we are going to discuss how to trade in ICICI direct. This is gonna be a very detailed post. Therefore, be with me for the next 5-10 minutes to learn the basics of trading with ICICI direct. Let’s get started.

Quick Video: How to trade in ICICI Direct?

For those of you who are here for a quick answer, here is a short video on how to trade in ICICI direct that can help you to learn the trading process fast. But, I will definitely recommend you reading this complete post in order to get an in-depth knowledge of the trading process in ICICI Direct. Here it the video:

(Source: ICICI Direct)

Few things to know for trading in ICICI Direct

First of all, you need to know that the market opens from 9:15 AM to 3:30 PM from Monday to Friday, excluding a few national holidays like Independence day, Republic day, etc. You can get the complete list of holidays in a year from BSE/NSE website.

In general, you can place an order to buy (or sell) stocks during market days when the market is open. At this time you can place orders to buy the stock at the current market price or you can set a limit price (say you want to buy a stock whose market price is 90, only when the price falls to 87 or less. Then, you place a limit price 87 against the market price which is 90. Here the trade will only execute when the stock reaches the limit price).

Anyways, you can also place orders outside the market timings i.e. before 9:15 AM or after 3:30 PM. But the order will be executed only when the stock market opens. Although these are advantageous for those who can’t place an order during the market time (for employees with a day job), there are few disadvantages of placing the orders after market timings.

For example, you won’t know the opening price of the stocks for the next day, so it might open at a higher price the next day which may lead you to reset your order price or cancel (and you might even not be able to buy the stock). So, it would be preferable to place orders for the stocks only during the market time so that you have the full information on the current market price of the stock.

Now that you understand the background of the stock market timings and how the market works, let’s move towards the central topic of the post – how to trade in ICICI direct? That is, how to buy and sell stocks using ICICI direct trading account.

Also read: Demat vs Trading Account – What’s the difference?

Step by step guide for How to trade in ICICI direct:

Step 1: Login to your ICICI Direct account

First, you need your account credentials to login in to the ICICI direct. If you have a 3-in-1 (Saving+Demat+Trading) account in ICICI Direct, you can have the access to buy/sell (using trading account) and hold your stocks using the demat account. Therefore, if you are new to trading and want to invest in stocks using ICICI,  I will suggest you open a 3-in-1 account in ICICI Direct.

After you have opened your account in the ICICI direct, you will get your username and password to log in. The first step is to google and search, ‘ICICI Direct’. Open the first link that comes in the search engine (www.icicidirect.com). Then, click on login in the top right-hand corner.

The website will ask your credentials like username, password, and date of birth/pan card. After entering the correct details, you can enter your ICICI direct account.

Step 2: Allocate funds for buying stocks

The next step after logging in your ICICI direct account is to allocate funds in the trading account.

The concept of allocating funds in very simple. Let’s say you have Rs 50,000 in your saving accounts in ICICI bank (or any other bank linked to your trading and demat account). And you want to buy stocks worth Rs 10,000. Then, you need to transfer that amount from your saving account to the trading account so that you can place the order of the stock worth Rs 10,000. This can be done by allocating the fund.

‘Allocate fund’ option can be found on the landing page after logging and is highlighted here.

Typically, this step of allocating funds can be done within a minute using your ICICI Direct account. The steps are as follows:

• Go to option Secondary, Market Equity, ETF (Note: if you want to buy IPO, Mutual funds then you have to go to other option).
• Select ‘ADD’ option and enter the amount you need to add.
• Then, click on ‘Submit’.
• You can see the allocated fund in the ‘Current Allocation’ after submitting.

Step 3: Place order for the stock

This is the third and final step for purchasing stocks using ICICI direct. After allocating the fund, you should select the option ‘Place order’, which is present in the equity option. This option is highlighted here:

After selecting the place order, you have to follow the following steps. The steps are simple and can be performed within a minute:

1. First, select the ‘Cash’ option in the Product.
2. Next, you have the option to select the stock exchange. You have two options- NSE (National stock exchange) or BSE (Bombay stock exchange). You can choose anyone and it doesn’t make much difference as prices are almost the same on both exchanges and follows almost the same trend. (I generally prefer NSE.)
3. Then you can view your limit on how much money you have to buy the stocks. This is the allocated money that you added in step 2. If you need more money, you can add an amount by allocating extra funds.
4. Now enter the stock. For example, if you want to buy a stock of ‘Tata Motors’, start typing ‘tata mot..’ on the stock option. The drop-down options will appear and you can select your stock from the list.
5. Next, you need to enter the quantity. the number of stocks that you want to buy.
6. After that, you have to select that option for order validity. Here you have three options – DAY, IOC or VTC. If you want to place an order for that day only, you should select Day. If you are placing a limit price and want to continue the placed order for the next few days, then you can select VTC 0valid till cancellation. (Prefer ‘day’ order)
7. Next, you have to select the Order Type. There are two options here – Market and Limit. I have already explained these earlier in this post. If you want to buy the stock at the current market price select ‘Market’ option. If you want to buy the stock at a limit price, select the ‘Limit’ option.
   For example, let’s say that Tata motor’s stocks are currently trading at a market price of Rs 469.10. If you want to buy that stock at market price, then you should select the ‘Market’ option. However, if you want to buy the tata motors stock only when the price is Rs 465 or lower, select the ‘limit’ option.
8. If you have selected ‘limit option’ in the Order Type, then you need to enter the ‘Limit Price’ in the next step. (This is Rs 465 in the previous example of Tata Motors).
9. The last option is the stop loss trigger price. You can leave this option blank and is not a must-fill option. This is an order placed with a broker to sell a security when it reaches a certain price. A stop-loss order is designed to limit an investor’s loss on a position in a security. However, it is more beneficial for day traders, not investors. You can study more about stop trigger price here.
10. Finally, select ‘Buy Now’

After clicking on ‘Buy Now’, you will be directed to a confirmation page. You need to confirm the details. And Tada!!!! You have bought a stock! Congratulations!!!!

If you want to re-confirm the stock that you’ve bought, you can do check by selecting the option ‘TRADE BOOK’ in equity. The option is highlighted here.

In Closing

After the trade is complete, it generally takes two-three days for the stock to reflect in your portfolio. Do not worry if can’t find the stock in your portfolio on the very next day since you executed the trade. It will eventually show up. The process takes T+2 days for transferring it from the previous owner to your account. Read more about stock settlement process in India here. 

So, that’s all. This was the exact process of how to trade in ICICI Direct. In addition to using the web-based ICICI direct portal, you can also trade in stocks using ICICI direct mobile app for android and iOS devices. The procedure to buy/sell stocks is the same even you use mobile apps to trade. Here’s the direct link to download ICICI direct mobile app on Google play store.

Finally, I hope this post on how to trade in ICICI direct to buy and sell stocks is useful to the readers. If you have any doubts or need any additional help, feel free to comment below. I will be happy to help you out. Happy investing.

P.S. If you’re new to stocks and confused where to start? Here’s an amazing online course for the newbie investors: INVESTING IN STOCKS- THE COMPLETE COURSE FOR BEGINNERS. Enroll now and start your stock market journey today!

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