🕒 Intraday Trading: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners and Aspiring Pros
Intraday trading, also known as day trading, is the practice of buying and selling financial instruments within the same trading day. Traders capitalize on short-term price movements to book profits, without holding any position overnight. It's fast-paced, potentially rewarding—but also risky if not done with discipline and strategy.
In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know about intraday trading.
📌 Table of Contents
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What is Intraday Trading?
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Pros and Cons of Intraday Trading
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Who Should Consider Intraday Trading?
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Key Concepts and Terms
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How to Start Intraday Trading
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Intraday Strategies That Work
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Risk Management Rules
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Tools and Platforms for Intraday Traders
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Intraday Trading Psychology
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Common Mistakes to Avoid
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Final Thoughts
1. 🚀 What is Intraday Trading?
Intraday trading involves taking positions that are opened and closed on the same day. Traders analyze short-term trends, news, and price charts to identify trading opportunities. Intraday traders use technical analysis, chart patterns, volume, and momentum indicators to make decisions.
Example: A trader buys 100 shares of XYZ Ltd at ₹500 and sells them at ₹510 the same day, booking a ₹1,000 profit (minus taxes and brokerage).
2. ✅ Pros and ❌ Cons of Intraday Trading
✅ Pros:
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No Overnight Risk: Positions are squared off daily.
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Daily Profit Opportunity: More trades = more chances to earn.
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Leverage Advantage: Brokers offer high margin in intraday.
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Liquidity: Easily trade in high-volume stocks.
❌ Cons:
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High Risk: Markets can turn suddenly.
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Stressful: Constant monitoring is required.
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Costs Add Up: Brokerage, taxes, slippage can reduce profits.
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Addictive: Emotional trading often leads to losses.
3. 🧠 Who Should Consider Intraday Trading?
Intraday trading is suitable for:
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People with strong market knowledge.
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Those who can devote full-time attention.
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Individuals with high risk tolerance.
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Traders who are emotionally disciplined.
It's not for passive investors or people looking for guaranteed returns.
4. 📘 Key Concepts and Terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Stop Loss | Automatic order to limit losses. |
| Target Price | Price at which you plan to book profit. |
| Volatility | Price fluctuations in a stock. |
| Liquidity | Ease of buying/selling a stock. |
| Volume | Number of shares traded. |
| Leverage | Borrowed capital used to increase position size. |
| Candlestick Chart | Price chart format used in technical analysis. |
5. 🧭 How to Start Intraday Trading
Step-by-Step:
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Choose a Reliable Broker (Zerodha, Upstox, Interactive Brokers, etc.)
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Open a Trading + Demat Account
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Fund Your Account
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Select Liquid Stocks (with high volume)
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Analyze Charts and Set Strategy
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Use Stop Loss and Target
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Execute the Trade and Monitor Constantly
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Square Off All Positions Before Market Close
6. 📊 Intraday Strategies That Work
1. Breakout Trading
Trade when price breaks a key support/resistance level with volume.
2. Gap and Go
Trade early morning gaps (up or down) based on pre-market trends.
3. Moving Average Crossover
Buy/Sell when short-term MA crosses long-term MA.
4. Reversal Trading
Trade when price shows signs of reversing from a high or low.
5. Scalping
Take multiple small trades in a day to accumulate profits.
Indicators to Use:
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RSI (Relative Strength Index)
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MACD
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VWAP (Volume Weighted Average Price)
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Bollinger Bands
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EMA/SMA (Exponential/ Simple Moving Average)
7. 🔐 Risk Management Rules
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Never Risk More Than 1-2% of capital per trade.
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Always set a Stop Loss before entering a trade.
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Maintain a Risk:Reward Ratio of at least 1:2.
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Use Trailing Stops to protect profits.
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Don’t overtrade—quality over quantity.
8. 🛠 Tools and Platforms for Intraday Traders
| Tool | Use |
|---|---|
| TradingView | Charting and technical analysis. |
| Zerodha Kite / Upstox | Trading platforms. |
| Moneycontrol / Investing.com | News and data. |
| Excel or Google Sheets | P&L tracking and journaling. |
| Screener.in | Stock filtering and analysis. |
9. 🧘 Intraday Trading Psychology
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Stay emotionally detached from trades.
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Don’t revenge trade after a loss.
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Be patient—wait for the right setup.
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Practice discipline—stick to your plan.
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Learn from every trade (win or lose).
10. ❌ Common Mistakes to Avoid
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Trading based on tips or rumors.
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Not using stop-loss orders.
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Overleveraging positions.
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Holding losing trades in hope of reversal.
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Ignoring market news and macro events.
11. 📚 Final Thoughts
Intraday trading offers exciting opportunities, but success requires education, discipline, and practice. Start with a demo account or small capital, build your strategy, and journal every trade to improve.
If you’re consistent, patient, and committed, you can become a profitable intraday trader.
📝 Bonus: Intraday Trading Checklist
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Checked global markets and news
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Selected 2–3 liquid stocks
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Analyzed chart setups
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Defined entry, stop loss, and target
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Risk calculated (<2% of capital)
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Trade executed with discipline
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Trade logged in journal
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