Nine days that carry a sixth of the year's buying
Up to 16 October 2026, domestic institutions (mutual funds, insurers and the like, as NSE groups them) were net buyers by ₹10,000 crore or more on nine sessions. In all of 2025 there were five. The nine days bought ₹1,12,664 crore between them, 16.4% of the ₹6,87,703 crore DIIs have bought in 2026, on 4.6% of the sessions. FIIs sold ₹1,00,914 crore on the same nine days.
The figures are NSE's provisional daily cash-market numbers, which our FII/DII data page shows in full.
| Date | DII net (₹ crore) | FII net (₹ crore) | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 May | +16,764 | −21,106 | −4,342 |
| 30 Mar | +14,895 | −11,163 | +3,732 |
| 16 Mar | +12,593 | −9,366 | +3,227 |
| 27 Feb | +12,293 | −7,536 | +4,757 |
| 4 Mar | +12,068 | −8,753 | +3,315 |
| 23 Mar | +12,034 | −10,414 | +1,620 |
| 30 Sep | +11,272 | −10,148 | +1,124 |
| 8 Oct | +10,703 | −12,944 | −2,241 |
| 1 Oct | +10,042 | −9,484 | +558 |
FIIs were net sellers on all nine days, and the DII figure was larger than the FII sale on seven of them. Two exceptions stand out. On the biggest day of all, 29 May, DIIs bought ₹16,764 crore and were still ₹4,342 crore short of the FII selling; on 8 October the shortfall was ₹2,241 crore.
When they cluster
| Month | Sessions with DII buying of ₹5,000 crore+ | ...of ₹10,000 crore+ | Largest day (₹ crore) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 2026 | 4 | 1 | 12,293 |
| Mar 2026 | 15 | 4 | 14,895 |
| Apr 2026 | 4 | 0 | 8,089 |
| May 2026 | 7 | 1 | 16,764 |
| Jun 2026 | 9 | 0 | 9,589 |
| Jul 2026 | 1 | 0 | 5,454 |
| Aug 2026 | 4 | 0 | 6,425 |
| Sep 2026 | 4 | 1 | 11,272 |
| Oct 2026 (to 16th) | 4 | 2 | 10,703 |
March 2026 is the outlier: 15 of its 19 sessions saw DII buying of ₹5,000 crore or more, which matches the month's ₹1,22,540 crore FII net sale in our month-by-month figures. July was the quiet month, with a single such session.
October stands out for a different reason. Two of the nine biggest days came in the first eight days of the month, 1 and 8 October, and a third, 30 September, sits just before them: three ₹10,000 crore-plus sessions in six trading days.
Heavy buying is not the same as covering
The nine days are the ones with the biggest DII numbers, not necessarily the ones where DIIs did the most. Over all 2026 sessions, FIIs were net sellers on 141 and DIIs bought more than FIIs sold on 96 of them. That leaves 45 sessions where DIIs fell short, and a few of those were big days, 29 May among them. Our quarter-by-quarter look at the offset goes through the longer record since September 2024.
The mirror of this post is our list of the ten biggest FII selling days of 2026, published in June. The two lists overlap on 29 May.
What the numbers do not tell you
Not all DII buying is a view. Domestic mutual funds receive SIP inflows that have to be invested, so part of the buying is structural rather than a call on the market.
A day's number is provisional. NSE revises its figures after the session; the totals here are as stored.
It is not a signal. The figures describe who traded, not what a price will do next.
None of this is investment advice.
Frequently asked questions
What was the biggest DII buying day of 2026?
29 May 2026, when DIIs were net buyers of ₹16,764 crore on NSE's provisional cash-market figures. FIIs sold ₹21,106 crore the same day, the largest FII sale among the nine ₹10,000 crore-plus DII buying days.
How many days did DIIs buy more than ₹10,000 crore?
Nine of 196 sessions from 1 January to 16 October 2026, against five of 249 sessions in 2025. Four of the nine were in March 2026, and two in the first eight days of October.
Does heavy DII buying always follow FII selling?
On these nine days, yes: FIIs were net sellers on every one. But DIIs also bought heavily on quieter days, and on 45 of the 141 FII-selling sessions of 2026 their buying fell short of the selling.
This is commentary on published data, not investment advice. WealthTicker is not a SEBI-registered adviser or distributor. Figures are WealthTicker’s own calculations from public data — AMFI’s fund NAVs and disclosures, NSE’s index and FII/DII files, and the fund houses’ monthly portfolios (how we calculate). They are as of the dates stated and can be revised by their source.
Keep reading
Biggest FII buying days and DII selling days since 2024
The biggest FII buying day since September 2024 was 20 September 2024 (+₹14,064 cr); DIIs sold most on 25 November 2024 (−₹6,908 cr). Ten of each.
FIIs and DIIs both bought on 109 of 524 sessions since 2024
Of 524 NSE sessions since September 2024, FII selling met DII buying 361 times and both bought 109. What the Nifty did on each type of day.
How often DIIs bought what FIIs sold, quarter by quarter
Since September 2024 FIIs sold on 367 of 518 sessions. On 236 of them domestic institutions bought at least as much. The record by quarter.