FII vs DII in September 2026: who bought, who sold

The month in one paragraph

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold a net ₹44,013 crore of Indian equities in September 2026. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought a net ₹76,030 crore. The Nifty 50 closed August at 24,080.40 and September at 22,620.45, a fall of 6.1%.

Every figure here is NSE's provisional cash-market number in ₹ crore, the same series shown day by day on our FII and DII data page.

September in numbers

The month had 21 trading sessions.

• FIIs were net buyers on 5 of the 21. The largest was 2 September, at +₹6,688 crore.
• DIIs were net buyers on all 21. Not one session of net selling.
• The selling came late. The last five sessions (24 to 30 September) account for ₹34,203 crore of FII net selling, 78% of the month's total.
• 30 September was the heaviest day on both sides. FIIs sold a net ₹10,148 crore; DIIs bought a net ₹11,272 crore.

Fifteen months of net selling

September was not a one-off. The last month in which FIIs were net buyers was June 2025 (+₹7,489 crore). They have been net sellers in every month since, fifteen in a row.

Two things stand out in that table. July and August looked like the selling was fading, at under ₹8,000 crore a month. September took it most of the way back to the pace of the spring.

And the heaviest month of the streak is still March 2026, when FIIs sold a net ₹1,22,540 crore and DIIs bought ₹1,42,961 crore.

Over the twelve months to September 2026, FIIs sold a net ₹4,57,265 crore and DIIs bought a net ₹8,49,033 crore.

What these numbers do not tell you

DII buying is not a floor under prices. Domestic institutions bought ₹32,000 crore more than foreign institutions sold in September, and the index fell 6.1% anyway. Institutions are two groups among many; the price is set by everyone trading, at the margin.

"DII" is not one investor. It covers mutual funds, insurance companies, banks and pension funds. Their reasons for buying differ, and so does how long each can keep doing it.

The figures are provisional and partial. NSE publishes them each evening for the cash market. They exclude derivatives, debt and primary-market purchases such as IPOs, so they differ from the monthly FPI totals NSDL publishes.

A flow is not a forecast. Fifteen months of selling says what happened. It does not say what the sixteenth month holds.

Where to go from here

The FII and DII data page carries every session, updated each trading evening, with monthly totals.

For what a falling index has done to valuations, see where the Nifty 50's P/E stands. For why foreign money moves at all, the guide on how global macro reaches your fund covers interest rates, the dollar and oil. And if a 6% month is testing your nerve, the psychology of a market crash is worth ten minutes.