Definition
When you buy shares on NSE or BSE, the trade can be settled in two ways. Either it's squared off the same day (intraday), or it's held overnight and transferred to your demat account (delivery). Delivery volume counts only the second kind.
The delivery percentage is calculated as (Delivery Quantity / Total Traded Quantity) × 100. A stock with 80% delivery means 80% of the day's volume was genuine position-building, not speculation.
Why it matters
High delivery percentage indicates conviction. When large institutions like mutual funds or FIIs buy shares, they take delivery because they intend to hold. Intraday traders, by contrast, square off before market close.
Stocks with consistently high delivery (above 50–60%) combined with price increases often signal accumulation. Conversely, high delivery with falling prices may indicate distribution — institutions quietly selling to retail demand.
For the average investor, delivery data helps distinguish between genuine demand and speculative noise. A stock rallying 5% on low delivery is less convincing than one rallying 3% with 70% delivery.
How to read it
Compare today's delivery percentage to the stock's 30-day average. A spike above the average — for example, 75% against a 45% average — is the actionable signal. Absolute numbers matter less than the deviation.
Context matters too. Large-caps like Reliance typically run 40–50% delivery; mid-caps average 30–40%. Reading 55% delivery is unremarkable on Reliance but striking on a mid-cap.
The combination to watch is price up + volume up + delivery up. This triple confirmation is one of the strongest signals of institutional accumulation. The aftermarkets delivery analysis page surfaces this combination automatically.