FII net sold ₹48,895 crore in 13 sessions to 21 October

The month so far

From 1 to 21 October 2026 the database holds 13 NSE sessions of institutional cash-market flows. Over those sessions foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers of ₹48,895 crore and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net buyers of ₹52,984 crore. The two nearly cancel, as they have in most months of 2026.

The September total was -₹44,013 crore for FIIs over 21 sessions. October has passed that in 13. Only March (-₹122,540 crore) and April (-₹70,136 crore) are larger so far this year.

Two buying days, after a 15-session run

FIIs sold on every session from 24 September to 15 October, 15 in a row. The run ended on 16 October with a net purchase of ₹1,165.92 crore. The next session, 19 October, went back to selling (-₹1,148.64 crore), and 21 October was a second net purchase of ₹1,022.32 crore.

The single heaviest day of the month was 8 October, when FIIs sold ₹12,943.58 crore net and DIIs bought ₹10,703.11 crore. The two buying days for FIIs are small by comparison: together about ₹2,188 crore against more than ₹51,000 crore of net selling on the other eleven sessions.

Why a buying day is not a turn

Two net-buy sessions in thirteen is a count, not a trend. In 2026 FIIs have had buying days in every month except March, which had none out of 19 sessions. In July and August they bought on 10 and 11 days respectively and still finished the month net negative (-₹5,779 crore and -₹7,532 crore). A day is a sign only of the day. The month-by-month table shows how rarely a month has ended positive.

The mirror image is DII behaviour. They were net buyers on 12 of the 13 October sessions, the exception being 16 October, when they sold ₹3,661.28 crore on the day FIIs bought. That is one of only 44 sessions since September 2024 on which FIIs bought and DIIs did not; see the post on how often both buy.

Where the Nifty stood

The Nifty 50 closed at 22,811.35 on 21 October per the database's index valuation table, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.26. Its close on 19 October was 22,888.95. These are the index levels on the days the flows were recorded; the figures here do not say that one drove the other. Earlier updates in this series are in the twelve sessions to 19 October and the nine-session selling streak.

Reading the figures

• NSE publishes these as provisional cash-market numbers; they exclude derivatives and primary-market (IPO, block) activity that other trackers fold in.
• The database holds no row for 20 October, so "13 sessions" is the count of recorded dates, not a claim about the exchange calendar.
• Net buying by DIIs includes mutual funds, insurers and others; it does not isolate SIP-driven demand.

The live daily and monthly tables are on the FII/DII data page, updated as NSE posts each day's figures. Figures here are as of 21 October 2026 and are commentary on the site's own data, not a forecast of what either group does next.