Read delivery and volume without over-reading one spike

Start with the two different questions

Volume counts shares traded during the session. Deliverable quantity is the exchange-reported quantity marked for delivery. Delivery percentage is deliverable quantity divided by traded quantity, expressed as a percentage.

• High volume asks: was trading activity unusual?
• High delivery asks: how much of that activity was marked for delivery?
• Neither number tells you who bought, why they traded or what happens next.

Compare a session fairly

Use the same security, the same market segment and completed sessions. Compare against a recent baseline rather than a fixed universal threshold.

• Check whether volume is above its own recent average, not just a large absolute number.
• Read delivery percentage beside delivery quantity. A high percentage on very low volume can still be small participation.
• Account for special sessions, index rebalances, block activity and corporate actions before drawing a conclusion.

Add price and follow-through

The same spike can mean different things depending on where the price closed and what happens in later completed sessions.

• Price up, strong close and above-normal participation can support accumulation, but does not prove it.
• Price down with heavy activity can reflect distribution, forced selling or simple volatility.
• A one-day reading is weaker than repeated evidence with price holding the relevant level.

Roman Hindi: ek din ka spike dekhkar decision mat lo; agle completed sessions mein price level hold ho raha hai ya nahi, woh bhi dekho.

What can invalidate the interpretation

• The feed is stale, provisional or missing a comparable baseline.
• Price loses the level that made the participation meaningful.
• The spike is explained by an event that changes normal trading behaviour.
• Delivery quantity and traded quantity refer to different dates or universes.

Sources and methodology

Apply the lesson

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