A circuit breaker is a mechanism used in financial markets to temporarily halt trading in response to significant market declines or disruptions. Circuit breakers are designed to prevent extreme volatility, panic selling, and disorderly trading conditions by providing a cooling-off period during which investors can reassess their positions and market conditions can stabilize.

Key Features of Circuit Breakers

• Trigger Levels: Circuit breakers are triggered when certain predetermined thresholds are breached, typically based on the percentage decline in a market index or the value of individual securities. These trigger levels are set by regulatory authorities and stock exchanges to ensure orderly market functioning and investor protection.
• Temporary Trading Halt: When a circuit breaker is triggered, trading in the affected securities or markets is temporarily suspended for a specified period of time, typically ranging from a few minutes to several hours, depending on the severity of the market decline and the rules of the exchange.
• Market Reassessment: During the trading halt, investors have an opportunity to reassess market conditions, review their investment strategies, and adjust their positions if necessary. The temporary pause in trading allows for a more orderly and informed decision-making process, reducing the likelihood of knee-jerk reactions and panic selling.
• Market Order Imbalance: Circuit breakers also help address imbalances between buy and sell orders, which can arise during periods of extreme market stress. By temporarily halting trading, circuit breakers give market participants time to adjust their order flow and facilitate the orderly matching of buy and sell orders when trading resumes.
• Graduated Approach: Circuit breakers often employ a graduated approach, with different trigger levels and corresponding trading halt durations based on the magnitude of the market decline. For example, a minor decline may trigger a brief trading pause, while a more severe decline may result in a longer halt or even the suspension of trading for the remainder of the day.
• Transparency and Communication: Stock exchanges and regulatory authorities communicate circuit breaker rules and trigger levels to market participants in advance to ensure transparency and clarity. This helps investors understand the mechanisms in place to maintain market stability and mitigate systemic risks.

Purpose of Circuit Breakers

• Market Stability: Circuit breakers help maintain market stability by preventing excessive volatility and disorderly trading behavior during periods of market stress or extreme fluctuations.
• Investor Protection: Circuit breakers provide a safeguard for investors by reducing the risk of rapid and indiscriminate price movements that can lead to significant losses and undermine investor confidence.
• Market Integrity: Circuit breakers promote market integrity by fostering orderly trading, fair price discovery, and the efficient allocation of capital in financial markets.

In summary, circuit breakers are an important risk management tool used in financial markets to temporarily halt trading during periods of extreme volatility or disruption. By providing a cooling-off period and allowing investors to reassess market conditions, circuit breakers help maintain market stability, protect investors, and preserve market integrity.