Bulk & block deals

Bulk deal — any single client trading more than 0.5% of a company's shares in a day, disclosed by the exchange after close. Watch for reputed mutual funds or marquee investors entering — and for the same operator names appearing repeatedly in the same small caps, which is exactly how circular trading looks.

Block deal — a single negotiated trade of at least ₹10 crore executed in the special block window. These are usually genuine institutional transfers; the price tells you what sophisticated buyers agreed a large stake is worth.

Neither is a buy signal by itself. A fund buying can be index rebalancing; a promoter selling can be pledged-share release. Treat a deal as a reason to investigate, then run the stock through the screener and its forensic checklist.