Delivery percentage: what it shows and what it does not
When you buy shares on the cash market, you either take delivery (the shares reach your demat account) or you sell them again the same day (intraday). NSE publishes how much of each stock's daily volume went to delivery. That is the delivery percentage.
The calculation
Delivery percentage = delivery quantity ÷ total traded quantity × 100. If 10 lakh shares traded and 4 lakh were delivered, the delivery percentage is 40%.
What a higher number suggests
A larger share of delivery means more of that day's buyers kept their shares overnight instead of squaring off the position. Many traders read this as stronger conviction, since holding shares needs more capital than a same-day trade.
Why you should not over-read it
- Delivery has a buyer and a seller. If the percentage is high, the shares changed hands, but the number does not say whether buyers or sellers were the more motivated side.
- It does not show who is buying. Mutual funds, retail investors and traders all create delivery. High delivery on a day does not prove institutional buying.
- Some stocks always have high delivery (for example, thinly traded names), and some always have low delivery (very active ones). Compare a stock with its own usual level, not with other stocks.
- Funds, ETFs and a few other instruments have unusual delivery numbers and are better left out.
- One day is a small sample. Delivery data is more useful when you look at a stock over several days.
A better way to use it
Look for stocks with high delivery together with high traded value, so that you are not looking at a stock with almost no trading. Then check the price action and the news. Treat delivery as one clue.
About the scanner
The Delivery Scanner on Tradingraph ranks stocks by delivery percentage from NSE's end-of-day delivery file. It leaves out funds and ETFs and thinly traded names. It uses one day of data, so there is no moving average.
This page is for information and education only and is not trading advice.