The StratLab Daily
No. 60 · Tuesday 19 May 2026 · NSE, data through close
Redesign v5 · One-thesis + Market Health · Real data

Foreign money turned: cash selling.

NIFTY −0.14% to 23,618. FII positioning is the marginal flow this market trades on; a same-day turn in cash and futures direction is mechanical fuel.

What happenedNIFTY −0.14% to 23,618. Foreign money turned: cash selling.
The tensionMarket Health is Bear Market at Very High risk, 8th percentile.
Net readA tactical move inside a fragile backdrop.
Nifty Close
23,618.00
−0.14%
Market Phase
🔴 Bear Market
session 6 · ↑ recovering
MHI
30.25
8th %ile
Risk
Very High
confidence 45
FII Idx Fut
−216.3K
10.1th %ile
Walls
23.6–23.6K
PE base · CE wall
01 The crowd

Foreign money turned: cash selling.

Positioning over the last 20 sessions
FII net index futures · 20 sessions · '000 contracts · endpoint = 19 May · source: StratLab participant OI
What this means: FII positioning is the marginal flow this market trades on; a same-day turn in cash and futures direction is mechanical fuel.
02 The turn

What changed today

What this means: FII cash −₹3,645 Cr after +₹2,167 Cr (settled) · DII +₹3,070 Cr · FII net index futures -216,280 (10th pctile of the year)
03 The catch

Market Health reads Bear Market

Market health over the last 20 sessions
Market Health Index · 20 sessions · 0–100 · endpoint = 19 May · percentiles vs 1,201 sessions
What this means: the index moved; Market Health's 8th-percentile read says the internals haven't confirmed it yet.
Phase
🔴 Bear Market
risk Very High
Participation
53.9078
delivery breadth
StratLab Breadth Index
35.7
30th %ile, trailing year
04 Days like today

61 sessions like this one.

Every session sharing today's Market Health signature — bear market, Very High risk — 61 of them on record.
Conditions analog · Phase + Trend + Risk match
n = 61 · tier: exact
HorizonAvgMedianWin rateWorst
Next session−0.20%−0.16%34%−4.78%
Next 5 sessions−0.07%+0.00%49%−4.77%
Next 10 sessions+0.25%+0.48%54%−7.12%
Next 20 sessions+1.34%+0.82%63%−6.63%
This compares today against every session sharing the same Market Health signature, regardless of what triggered it.

Conditions like today historically favored caution, with exposure kept tight.

05 Tomorrow's tripwires

Three checks that settle the argument

Market Phase exits upward
Bear Market runs a median of 2 session(s) (max 16) — this is session 6. 17% of exits went up.
Market Health crosses the 50 midline
MHI at 30.2 — a close back above 50 would end the 8th-percentile read.
Phase slips to Bear Market
0.0% of Bear Market exits went straight to Bear — the conditions analog's worst 5-session outcome (−4.77%) lives on that path.
The ledger

Where that leaves us

Lines up bullish
  • Foreign money turned: cash selling.
Lines up bearish
  • Market Health 8th percentile · Very High risk
  • Conditions analog: −0.07% avg next 5 · 49% win

Net read: A tactical move inside a fragile backdrop.

Foreign money turned: cash selling. A tactical move inside a fragile backdrop.

Regime