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FII and DII data, explained
Every evening the exchanges say how much foreign and domestic institutions bought and sold. It is one of the most watched numbers in Indian markets, and one of the most over-read.
Who FIIs and DIIs are
FIIs are foreign institutional investors: pension funds, sovereign funds, hedge funds and mutual funds based outside India. The official name since 2014 is FPI, foreign portfolio investor; the older name has stuck.
DIIs are domestic institutional investors: India's mutual funds, insurance companies, banks and pension funds. Much of their money arrives every month through SIPs and insurance premiums, which makes it steadier than foreign money.
Between them they hold a large share of the freely traded stock of India's big companies, which is why their buying and selling is followed.
What the daily figure is
For each group, the figure is the value of shares bought minus the value sold in the cash market that day, in rupees crore. A plus sign is net buying; a minus sign is net selling.
The exchanges publish it the same evening as a provisional figure, compiled from the day's trades. Settled figures follow: NSDL publishes foreign investors' flows from custody records a day later, and they can differ a little.
The latest numbers are on FII and DII data today.
Cash is not the whole story
The daily figure covers shares bought and sold. It does not cover futures and options, where foreign investors also take large positions, often to hedge the shares they hold.
That second reading is published separately, as open interest by participant. It is the source of the FII long-short ratio: the share of foreign investors' index-futures contracts that are long.
The two can disagree. Foreign investors can be buying shares while holding a heavily short futures book, or the reverse.
What it does and does not tell you
- It is a fact, not a forecast. It says what was done today. Markets have risen through long stretches of foreign selling when domestic money absorbed it.
- Size and persistence matter more than sign. A run of large selling days is a different thing from one small negative print.
- The two groups often offset. Look at the combined figure before reading much into either.
- One day is mostly noise. Index rebalancing, block deals and expiry days can each move a single day's number by thousands of crore.
The honest way to use it is to ask what happened after similar stretches in the past, and how many separate times that has been seen.
Questions people ask
What is the full form of FII and DII?
FII is foreign institutional investor (now officially FPI, foreign portfolio investor). DII is domestic institutional investor.
What time does FII DII data come out?
The exchanges publish provisional figures in the evening of each trading day, after the market closes.
Is FII data or DII data more important?
Neither alone. Foreign money is larger in swings and more sensitive to global conditions; domestic money is steadier. The combined figure, and how long a trend has run, tell you more than either.
Where can I check FII DII data for the last 30 days?
On Schema's FII and DII page, which keeps a day-by-day table and chart.
Keep reading
Research and information, not investment advice. Historical patterns describe the past and do not promise returns.