FII and DII data answers one narrow question: how much did big foreign and domestic institutions buy and sell today? It is a record of the day, not a prediction of the next one.
This guide explains each column, shows the arithmetic on a small example, and lists the ways the numbers get misread.
Who is in each column
FII stands for foreign institutional investor. In India, foreign money now mostly comes in as foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), and the daily tables still use the older label. DII stands for domestic institutional investor: mutual funds, insurers, banks and similar bodies.
Retail traders, proprietary desks and other participants are not in these two lines. So the table shows only a slice of the market, even if a large one.
The columns, one by one
Most daily tables carry the same few columns:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Buy value | Total value bought by the group that day |
| Sell value | Total value sold by the group that day |
| Net value | Buy value minus sell value |
Values are normally shown in crore rupees. A positive net means the group bought more than it sold. A negative net means it sold more than it bought. Neither says whether any single trade was good or bad.
A worked example (example, not real data)
Take invented round numbers, labelled example, not real data:
| Group | Buy (crore) | Sell (crore) | Net (crore) |
|---|---|---|---|
| FII | 10,000 | 11,500 | -1,500 |
| DII | 9,000 | 7,800 | +1,200 |
FII net: 10,000 minus 11,500 equals -1,500. DII net: 9,000 minus 7,800 equals +1,200. Combined net: -1,500 plus 1,200 equals -300.
In this made-up day, foreign institutions sold more than they bought while domestic institutions did the opposite, and the two nearly offset. Notice how large the gross numbers are next to the net. A small net can sit on top of very heavy two-way trading.
Provisional versus final
The exchange publishes provisional numbers soon after the close. Final figures follow once settlement data is complete, and they can differ slightly. If you log the data, store which version you captured and the time you captured it. I keep that habit for every figure I record, and it connects to the daily journal approach I use for the bot.
How the numbers get misread
- Treating net as a forecast. A negative net day is a fact about that day. It does not tell you what the Nifty does tomorrow. I looked at a related question for pre-market information in does the pre-market read predict anything, and the lesson was the same: describe, do not extrapolate.
- Ignoring the cash-only scope. These tables cover the cash segment. Derivatives positions are reported separately.
- Reading one day. One day is noise. Also, I haven't measured how these flows relate to index moves in my own data, so I will not claim a link.
- Comparing across units. Check that you are comparing crore with crore, and the same version (provisional with provisional).
Where to find it
The exchange publishes the provisional FII and DII table on its website after the close, and the same figures appear in news summaries. For the context of what else happens around the open, see the pre-open session explained. To see how I put daily figures into context, my post-market notes report such numbers as plain facts alongside other data.
A short checklist
- Note whether the figure is provisional or final.
- Write down buy, sell and net, not net alone.
- Keep FII and DII separate before you combine them.
- Record the date and source with each number.
- Describe what happened; leave out what you think comes next.
FII and DII data is useful as a clear record of institutional activity. Read it as exactly that, and it stays honest.
This post shares general information only. It is not investment advice, and past results say nothing certain about the future. The author is not registered with SEBI as an investment adviser or research analyst.