--- title: "Participant wise OI and FII data in India, read honestly" description: "How to read NSE's participant wise open interest: four groups, a ledger that sums to zero, the FII long short ratio and a dated test." source_url: "https://www.rupeecase.com/learn/path-15/module-15-6-participant-wise-open-interest" --- [Path 15 6 of 13](/learn/path-15/)Participant wise OI and FII derivatives data, read honestly[Next 15.7](/learn/path-15/module-15-7-expected-move) On Wednesday 10 Jun 2026 NSE's participant file listed foreign institutions as heavily net short in index futures and the client group as net long by most of that number of contracts. A reel would call that a bearish foreign view and a bullish retail one. The file says something plainer: every long has a short, so someone sits on each side, and the file does not say why. I read it as a ledger first, and as a signal never until it has been tested on dated numbers. This lesson reads the file group by group, says what the FII long short ratio can and cannot show, names who carried the short side of options that day, and runs the dated test. Every figure comes from NSE end of day files, and none is live. 3By the end you can 1. Read the four groups of the participant file and check that longs equal shorts. 2. Say what an FII long short ratio counts, and what it cannot separate. 3. Run a dated test of a positioning claim, and say why overlapping windows overstate it. ## The idea, plainly ### What the file counts NSE publishes the file after each close. It splits open contracts into four groups. Client is everyone who trades through a broker and is not in the other three, individuals included. DII is domestic institutions, such as mutual funds and insurers. FII is foreign institutions. Pro is the member firms' own accounts, where dealers and proprietary desks sit among others, and the file does not flag market makers. For each group it gives long and short contracts in index futures, index calls and index puts, and in stock contracts too. The unit is contracts. NSE's option chain counts open interest in units, so divide units by the lot of 65 before you compare the two. The [open interest module](/learn/path-15/module-15-2-open-interest-on-the-option-chain) covers the chain side. The file covers all index contracts together, not Nifty alone. ### The ledger rule Every contract has a buyer and a seller. So for each product the longs of the four groups add up to their shorts, and the net positions of the four groups add up to zero. That is a free check on the file. It also breaks a common reading: when one group is heavily net short, the others are net long by the same total. The arithmetic does not say which side knew more. Four groups, one ledger: every long is somebody's short How the participant file adds up. Longs and shorts are counted for each group and each product, and the totals match. Source: NSE participant wise open interest, end of day file; layout by RupeeCase. As of 10 Jun 2026. FII held far more short than long index futures, and the client group the reverse Long and short index futures contracts of each group at the close of 10 Jun 2026, all index contracts together. The four long bars add up to the four short bars. Source: NSE participant wise open interest, end of day file (index futures and index options), computed by RupeeCase. As of 10 Jun 2026. On 10 Jun 2026 the FII short bar is many times its long bar, and the client group's long bar is the larger of its two. DII and Pro are small beside them. ### The FII long short ratio, and what it hides The ratio divides one group's long contracts by its short contracts in a product. For FII in index futures that day the long was a small fraction of the short. It is a snapshot at the close. It moves when the group rolls, hedges or closes a position, not only when it takes a view. The same count holds an index future sold against a basket of shares, a call sold against a holding and a calendar spread. The file gives no reason for any position, so a foreign fund hedging Indian shares looks the same as one betting on a fall. ### FII and DII data: a different file NSE's FII and DII report is not the participant file. It lists, for each day, what these groups bought and sold in the cash market, gross and net, in rupees. It tells you what a group did in shares on one day, and it gives no reason either. A net seller in the cash market can be raising cash, rebalancing or meeting redemptions. Open contracts in derivatives and rupees traded in shares are different things, so do not add them or read them as one number. A claim that uses both should say which file each figure came from, and on which date. ### Who are the option sellers? The next chart shows net option positions by group on the same day. Net short calls sat with FII. Net short puts sat with the client group. Pro was net long in both. So option selling is not one group's business: different groups carried the short side of calls and of puts. The file cannot say which holders were dealers, hedgers or speculators. SEBI's studies of individual traders find that almost all mainly buy options, and the client group holds far more than individuals do, so the two do not line up. Module [A18](/learn/path-15/module-15-8-who-is-on-the-other-side) follows the other side of the trade. Net short calls sat with FII and net short puts with the client group Long contracts less short contracts in index calls and index puts, by group, at the close of 10 Jun 2026. For each product the four nets add up to zero within a contract. Source: NSE participant wise open interest, end of day file (index futures and index options), computed by RupeeCase. As of 10 Jun 2026. ## Worked example: a ledger check, then a dated test First the check. Read the futures chart again. The client, DII and Pro groups are net long, FII is net short, and the three net longs add up to the FII net short to within a contract. A ledger that balances is a file you can trust to be counting what it says. It still does not say why. When FII held a larger long share, Nifty was higher five sessions later on fewer days Every session from 1 Jul 2025 to 10 Jul 2026, each read against the close five sessions later, split at the median of FII's long share of index futures (long divided by long plus short). Counts are days, and the windows overlap. Source: NSE participant wise open interest and NSE index close, end of day files, computed by RupeeCase. As of 17 Jul 2026. The test window is one stretch, and the index ended it lower than it began Nifty daily close, 1 Jul 2025 to 17 Jul 2026. The test covers a single regime, not every kind of market. Source: NSE end of day data, computed by RupeeCase. As of 17 Jul 2026. Read 2 more paragraphs, 198 words Now the test the question page promised. The rule is set before looking at the result. Each day, take FII's long share of its index futures: long divided by long plus short. Split the days at the median of the window. For each day note whether Nifty closed higher five sessions later. Count both groups. The days run from 1 Jul 2025 to 10 Jul 2026, every session in the files, so the last five session look ends on 17 Jul 2026. It stops there because newer data is too recent for a dated lesson. Read it with care. The folk reading did not hold in this window. On the days FII held a larger long share, Nifty was higher five sessions later less often, not more. But the window is one stretch, and the index fell over it. Each window shares four of its five sessions with the next, so only about one in five is an independent look. A gap this size across so few independent looks is not strong evidence either way. It shows how to test a claim. It is not a rule to use. The [participant data question page](/learn/questions/participant-wise-oi-fii-data) has the short version. ## The common mistake The claim: The FII long short ratio is out today, so when foreign institutions are net long the market is about to rise. The ratio counts one group's open contracts, hedges and spreads included. The ledger says the other three groups hold the opposite side by the same total, so the ratio cannot pick the group that is right. And in the dated test above, a higher FII long share was followed by fewer rises over five sessions, not more. Treat the ratio as positioning data. Before trusting it, ask for a test on many dated days, counted both ways, with the overlap admitted. ## Key takeaways * The participant file counts contracts for four groups: Client, DII, FII and Pro. * Every long has a short, so the four groups' net positions add up to zero. * An FII long short ratio is one group's count, hedges and spreads included. * The file shows positions at the close, never the reason behind them. * FII and DII cash flows are a different series, in rupees. * A claim about a ratio needs a dated test, counted both ways. 3 terms this section turns on From the module glossary; every term is in the Learn glossary too. Source: Module 15.6, Participant wise OI and FII derivatives data, read honestly. **Before you trade.** Derivatives trading carries a high risk of loss. SEBI's study "Profitability of Individual Traders in the Equity Derivatives Segment (FY25 to FY26)" (August 2026) found that 87.7% of individual traders in equity F&O made net losses in FY26, with aggregate net losses of Rs 91,685 crore. [Read the SEBI study](https://www.sebi.gov.in/reports-and-statistics/research/aug-2026/study-profitability-of-individual-traders-in-the-equity-derivatives-segment-fy25-fy26-_103835.html) What does Participant wise OI and FII derivatives data, read honestly cover?Four groups, long and short contracts, and a ledger that must balance. What the FII ratio shows, and what it cannot. It works through The idea, plainly, Worked example: a ledger check, then a dated test, The common mistake, Key takeaways. It is module 15.6 of Path 15, Option Chain and Data, about 8 minutes of reading, free. AF&O on RupeeCase ## Hedging only, in development F&O at RupeeCase will do one job: protect a portfolio you already own, by a rule published before it runs. No speculation, no naked option selling, no leveraged bets. It is not available yet. [How hedging will work](/hedging)[Sign up for RupeeCase](https://invest.rupeecase.com/signup) [No hedgeFalls with the marketWith a putA floor, for a premiumIllustration with made up numbers, not a product and not a recommendation.](/hedging) QQuick check ## 10 questions, 7 to pass. Each attempt draws 10 of the 15 questions in this module's bank, and a retake draws a fresh set. A pass gives this module's Certificate of Completion. Your result stays on this device and counts towards the Path 15 certificate. 7 of 10 correct passes module 15.6 Every answer is explained when you check; a retake is always free. Source: RupeeCase Learn quiz rules (70% to pass). Passed ### Certificate ID Download PNGPrint or save as PDF[Check the ID](/learn/certificates/verify) Self paced and unproctored. A record of completing free education by RupeeCase; not a NISM certificate and not endorsed by NISM, NSE, BSE or SEBI. It qualifies no one to deal, advise or publish research. CCheck yourself ## Path 15 so far. Your quick check results on this device, stop by stop. Stop 6 of 13 on Path 15 Option Chain and Data: every live stop, this module ringed. Source: RupeeCase Learn, Path 15. 1. [15.1Reading the NSE option chain, column by columnNot yet](/learn/path-15/module-15-1-reading-the-nse-option-chain) 2. [15.2OI and change in OI on the chain: what they can and cannot tell youNot yet](/learn/path-15/module-15-2-open-interest-on-the-option-chain) 3. [15.3Put call ratio: definitions and what the evidence saysNot yet](/learn/path-15/module-15-3-put-call-ratio) 4. [15.4Max pain: the calculation and a Nifty testNot yet](/learn/path-15/module-15-4-max-pain) 5. [15.5Liquidity in the chain: spreads, volume and tradable strikesNot yet](/learn/path-15/module-15-5-option-chain-liquidity) 6. [15.6Participant wise OI and FII derivatives data, read honestlyNot yet](/learn/path-15/module-15-6-participant-wise-open-interest#quiz) 7. [15.7Expected move from the straddle and from IVNot yet](/learn/path-15/module-15-7-expected-move) 8. [15.8Who is on the other side in IndiaNot yet](/learn/path-15/module-15-8-who-is-on-the-other-side) 9. [15.9Gamma exposure: the computation and its assumptionsNot yet](/learn/path-15/module-15-9-gamma-exposure-gex) 10. [15.10Zero gamma, call wall and put wallNot yet](/learn/path-15/module-15-10-zero-gamma-and-walls) 11. [15.11Pinning and max OI strikes: the evidenceNot yet](/learn/path-15/module-15-11-pinning-and-max-oi-strikes) 12. [15.12Vanna and charm flows around expiries and eventsNot yet](/learn/path-15/module-15-12-vanna-and-charm-flows) 13. [15.13An Indian positioning model and its limitsNot yet](/learn/path-15/module-15-13-indian-positioning-model) 14. [TPath test, 30 questionsNot yet](/learn/path-15/module-15-13-indian-positioning-model#pathTestSection) Path 15 in reading time: 119 minutes over 13 modules Minutes of reading per module, this one in amber. Source: RupeeCase Learn, Path 15. Explore next ## Put the module to work. * [ToolOption payoff builderLegs on a dated Nifty chain, breakevens and charges](/learn/tools/payoff-builder) * [Free module 15.2OI and change in OI on the chain: what they can and cannot tell you8 min read](/learn/path-15/module-15-2-open-interest-on-the-option-chain) * [Free module 15.3Put call ratio: definitions and what the evidence says7 min read](/learn/path-15/module-15-3-put-call-ratio) * [Free module 15.5Liquidity in the chain: spreads, volume and tradable strikes9 min read](/learn/path-15/module-15-5-option-chain-liquidity) * [Free module 15.7Expected move from the straddle and from IV9 min read](/learn/path-15/module-15-7-expected-move) * [Free module 15.8Who is on the other side in India10 min read](/learn/path-15/module-15-8-who-is-on-the-other-side) Community ## Join my WhatsApp group. Scan the code, fillFill one short form, and join my WhatsApp group. Slides, sources, factsheets and the rebalance logs live there, and members join a daily Google Meet with me. New to RupeeCase? [Getting started](/getting-started) [See the terminal](/terminal) [Sign up for RupeeCase](https://invest.rupeecase.com/signup) [Join the WhatsApp group](https://forms.gle/C6HMtM1Z2GfeocQV7) [One form, one group](https://forms.gle/C6HMtM1Z2GfeocQV7)Scan with your phone camera SSources ## Go to the source. 4 sources, NSE the most cited The publisher of each source listed below. Source: Module 15.6 source list. 1. [NSE, participant wise open interest file, fao_participant_oi (example file)](https://nsearchives.nseindia.com/content/nsccl/fao_participant_oi_11052023.csv) NSE 2. [NSE, FII and DII activity reports (cash market flows, a separate series)](https://www.nseindia.com/reports/fii-dii) NSE 3. [NSE, equity derivatives contract specifications (lot size and contract terms)](https://www.nseindia.com/static/products-services/equity-derivatives-contract-specifications) NSE 4. [SEBI, Trading Behaviour of Individual Traders in the Equity Derivatives Segment (FY25 to FY26), Aug 2026](https://www.sebi.gov.in/reports-and-statistics/research/aug-2026/study-trading-behaviour-of-individual-traders-in-the-equity-derivatives-segment-fy25-fy26-_103836.html) SEBI GTerms ## 5 terms from this module. Participant wise open interestNSE's daily file of open contracts for four groups, Client, DII, FII and Pro, long and short, by product. ProThe member firms' own accounts. Dealers and proprietary desks sit here among others, and the file does not flag market makers. Net positionLong contracts less short contracts of one group in one product. Across the four groups the nets add up to zero. FII long short ratioOne group's long contracts divided by its short contracts in a product. It is a closing snapshot that mixes hedges, spreads and views. Overlapping windowsTest periods that share most of their days. They are fewer independent looks than the count of days suggests. [All 230 terms in the glossary](/learn/glossary) [Question people askWhat do participant wise OI, the FII long short ratio and FII and DII data tell me?A short answer with a dated chart](/learn/questions/participant-wise-oi-fii-data)[Question people askWho are the market makers and option sellers in India?A short answer with a dated chart](/learn/questions/who-are-option-sellers-india)[Related module15.2 OI and change in OI on the chain: what they can and cannot tell you8 min, Beginner](/learn/path-15/module-15-2-open-interest-on-the-option-chain)[Related module15.3 Put call ratio: definitions and what the evidence says7 min, Beginner](/learn/path-15/module-15-3-put-call-ratio)[Pillar guideDerivatives and Quant115 modules across paths 12 to 19](/learn/derivatives) Education only, not investment advice, a research report or a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security. RupeeCase (QC Alpha Technologies Pvt Ltd) is not registered with SEBI as an investment adviser or research analyst. Contracts and prices shown are for illustration only, come from NSE end of day files at least 30 days old, and are not recommendatory. Derivatives trading carries a high risk of loss.