**Market Brief: Zerodha Outage Mars Historic Rally** **Date:** February 3, 2026 **Executive Summary** Indian equity markets witnessed a historic surge today following the announcement of a landmark India-US trade deal. However, the rally was marred for thousands of retail traders as Zerodha’s Kite platform suffered critical technical disruptions during peak volatility, preventing users from capitalizing on the gains. **Market Context: The Trade Deal Rally** Indices opened with a massive gap-up after the US administration confirmed a reduction in tariffs on Indian goods from **50%** to **18%**. * **Sensex:** Surged over **4,200 points** intraday to hit a high of **85,871**, before settling around **83,739** (+2.5%). * **Nifty 50:** Climbed **1,252 points** to an intraday record of **26,341**, closing near **25,727**. * **Key Sectors:** Textiles, Pharma, and IT stocks led the breakout, driven by the improved export outlook. **Operational Disruption** Coinciding with the market opening, Zerodha’s Kite platform faced widespread outages. Downdetector recorded a spike of over **350** complaints within the first hour of trading. * **Technical Faults:** Users reported "504 Gateway Timeouts," forced logouts, and inability to view funds after selling holdings. * **Data Integrity:** Charts reset automatically, and portfolio values displayed incorrectly or showed zero balance. * **Execution Failure:** Traders were unable to enter or exit positions during the critical opening minutes, leaving them exposed to heightened volatility. **Company Response & Status** Zerodha acknowledged the disruptions on social media, attributing them to intermittent technical issues under high load. While the brokerage stated its teams were investigating and working to stabilize the service, no specific timeline for a full resolution or compensation policy was immediately provided. By late afternoon, reports indicated the platform had begun to stabilize, though user sentiment remained critical regarding the timing of the failure.