FII DII cash data shows how much money foreign and domestic institutions put into or took out of shares on a day. Participant-wise open interest (OI) shows how many futures and options contracts each group still holds when the day ends. The two reports answer different questions, so it helps to read them together. This guide explains the difference and shows how to use both.
Key Takeaways
- Cash data is a flow: rupees bought and sold in shares during the day. OI is a stock: contracts still open at the end of the day.
- Cash data covers FII/FPI and DII. Participant-wise OI covers four groups: Client, DII, FII and Pro.
- In cash data, net means buy minus sell. In OI data, net means long minus short.
- Across all four groups in OI data, the net total is always zero, because every long contract has a short on the other side.
- Neither report predicts the market. Use them as context, and compare several sessions.
Table of Contents
- The Short Answer
- What FII DII Cash Data Shows
- What Participant-wise OI Shows
- Cash Data vs OI at a Glance
- How to Read Both: Step by Step
- Worked Example: 12 November 2026
- Common Mistakes
- Pros and Cons of Using Both
- FAQ
- The Bottom Line
The Short Answer
Think of cash data as a record of what institutions did in the share market today. Think of participant-wise OI as a snapshot of the positions they are carrying in the derivatives market into the next session. One tells you about activity, the other about positioning.
What FII DII Cash Data Shows
The NSE publishes a free FII/FPI and DII trading activity report for the capital market segment. It lists the gross buy value, gross sell value and net value for each group, usually in rupees crore. Net is buy minus sell. A positive net means the group bought more than it sold. For a daily walk-through, see our FII DII cash market daily summary and the FII data explainer.
What Participant-wise OI Shows
The NSE participant-wise open interest report lists the long and short contracts held by Client, DII, FII and Pro (proprietary traders). It covers index futures, index calls and puts, stock futures, and stock calls and puts. The numbers are contract counts, not rupees. Each row also shows the change from the previous session. You can browse past dates on our participant-wise OI table, and the NSE hosts the original files under derivatives reports.
Why net OI always adds up to zero
Every futures or options contract has a buyer (long) and a seller (short). So when you add the net positions of Client, DII, FII and Pro, the total is zero. If one group is net long, another group must be net short. This is a useful check when you read the table.
Cash Data vs OI at a Glance
| Point | FII DII cash data | Participant-wise OI |
|---|---|---|
| What it measures | Shares bought and sold in the day | Contracts still open at day end |
| Type | Flow | Stock of positions |
| Unit | Rupees crore | Number of contracts |
| Groups | FII/FPI and DII | Client, DII, FII and Pro |
| Segment | Cash (capital) market | Futures and options |
| Net means | Buy minus sell | Long minus short |
| Official source | NSE FII/FPI and DII trading activity report | NSE participant-wise open interest report |
How to Read Both: Step by Step
- Start with cash. Note the FII net and DII net for the day. Are they buying or selling?
- Open the OI report. Look at FII index futures: long, short and net.
- Check the change columns. See whether FIIs added or cut longs and shorts versus the previous session.
- Compare the direction. Do cash and derivatives point the same way? If not, do not force a story. FIIs can hold index futures shorts as a hedge against cash holdings.
- Repeat for several sessions. Look at a week or more before drawing any view. Our FII long short ratio page helps with this.
Worked Example: 12 November 2026 (Index Futures)
These are real figures from the NSE participant-wise OI report for 12 November 2026. Net is long minus short.
| Group | Long | Short | Net |
|---|---|---|---|
| FII | 70,744 | 120,463 | -49,719 |
| DII | 54,372 | 27,224 | +27,148 |
| Client | 172,115 | 114,170 | +57,945 |
| Pro | 25,432 | 60,806 | -35,374 |
| Total | 322,663 | 322,663 | 0 |
- FII net: 70,744 minus 120,463 = minus 49,719. FIIs held more shorts than longs.
- Share of longs: 70,744 divided by (70,744 + 120,463) = about 37.0 percent of FII index futures were long.
- Change: The previous net was minus 70,413, so the net short narrowed by 20,694 contracts. Longs rose by 13,518 and shorts fell by 7,176.
- Check: 57,945 + 27,148 minus 49,719 minus 35,374 = 0.
What this tells you: on that date FIIs were net short in index futures but less so than the session before. It says nothing about the cash market. For that, open the cash report for the same date and compare the two. For the full options and futures picture, see our guides on FII futures data and FII options data.
Common Mistakes
- Mixing units. Cash is in rupees crore. OI is in contracts. Do not add or compare them directly.
- Reading a net short as a bearish bet. It can be a hedge against cash holdings.
- Using one day. One session can be distorted by expiry or rollover. Compare several.
- Using only one report. Cash alone misses derivatives positioning, and OI alone misses actual buying and selling.
- Calling it live. Both reports are end-of-day data.
Pros and Cons of Using Both
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Gives both activity (cash) and positioning (OI) | Takes two reports and a bit more time |
| Free from the NSE | End-of-day only, so it lags the market |
| Shows if cash and derivatives agree | Different units make direct comparison hard |
| Helps avoid reading a single headline number | Does not predict future prices |
FAQ
What is the main difference between FII DII cash data and participant-wise OI?
Cash data shows rupees of shares bought and sold in a day. Participant-wise OI shows how many futures and options contracts each group still holds at day end.
Which groups does participant-wise OI cover?
It covers Client, DII, FII and Pro (proprietary traders), with long and short positions for each.
Why does net OI add up to zero?
Every contract has a long side and a short side, so the net positions of all four groups cancel out.
Can FII cash selling and FII futures shorts mean the same thing?
Not always. Futures shorts can be a hedge against cash holdings, so the two reports can point in different directions.
Where can I get the official data?
The NSE publishes the FII/FPI and DII trading activity report and the participant-wise open interest report on its website.
The Bottom Line
FII DII cash data tells you what institutions bought and sold in shares. Participant-wise OI tells you what contracts they are holding. Read the cash net first, then the OI net and its change, and look at a week of sessions before forming a view. Next step: open both NSE reports for the same date and match them with the steps above. Also see the difference between FII and DII.
Sources: NSE FII/FPI and DII trading activity report; NSE derivatives reports (participant-wise open interest).
Disclaimer: This article is for education only and is not investment advice. It does not recommend buying or selling any security. Report formats and timings can change, so check the official NSE site before you act.
