Domestic and Foreign institutional investors are professional investors who aim to profit from price movements in the stock market. These investors not only profit from their investments but also drive the stock market of any country. The study examines the association between Sensex Nifty 50’s movements and investing patterns of FIIs, DIIS and the causal relationship between stock market returns and institutional investments (FIIS and DIIs). The study also analyses the impact of FIIs and DIIs in driving the Indian stock market. The study employed correlation analysis, vector autoregression model, Block exogeneity Wald-test and the Granger causality test for the objectives. Our results indicate the gradual fall in the FIIs-DIIs ratio in the Indian stock market, making domestic institutional investors a prominent counterforce to FIIs and establishing it as an equal driver. DIIs act as positive feedback traders, while FIIs act as neutral to negative traders. The causality test demonstrates that market return has a significant impact on both the players, but neither FIIs nor DIIs have a significant impact on market movement.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21863/jcar/2024.13.4.008