Real-Time Financial Data: How to Automate Mutual Fund NAV Tracking with Python

• Part I : API-First Financial data
• Part II : Tracking Multiple funds
• Part III : Visualizing Mutual Fund Performance
• Part IV : Automating Mutual Fund Portfolio Tracking
• Part V : Using Excel or CSV file to store investment details
• Part VI : Automating the Script — Running on a Schedule

API-First Financial Data Architecture 🔝

While AMFI ( Association of Mutual Funds in India) provides the foundational NAV data, this guide focuses on the engineering required to build high-performance retrieval systems.

These are the Python libraries required to be installed

pip install requests pandas matplotlib openpyxl

import requests

def get_latest_nav(scheme_code):
    url = f"https://api.mfapi.in/mf/{scheme_code}/latest"
    response = requests.get(url,timeout=10)
    data = response.json()
    
    latest_nav = data['data'][0]['nav']
    date = data['data'][0]['date']
    fund_name = data['meta']['scheme_name']
    
    return fund_name, latest_nav, date

# Example: Quant Small Cap Fund (Direct Plan)
name, nav, date = get_latest_nav("120847")
print(f"Fund: {name} | Current NAV: {nav} | Date: {date}")

Fund: quant ELSS Tax Saver Fund - Growth Option - Direct Plan | Current NAV: 414.31430 | Date: 09-01-2026

Tracking multiple funds 🔝

# Input scheme list
input_schemes = [
{"schemeCode": 120251, "schemeName": "ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund Direct Growth"},
{"schemeCode": 118955, "schemeName": "HDFC Flexi Cap Direct Plan Growth"},
{"schemeCode": 120334, "schemeName": "ICICI Prudential Multi Asset Fund Direct Growth"}
]

import requests
from datetime import datetime

def fetch_latest_navs(scheme_list):
    """
    Retrieves the most recent NAV and corresponding date for a list of funds.
    """
    base_url = "https://api.mfapi.in/mf/"
    final_report = []

    print(f"{'SCHEME NAME':<65} | {'NAV':<10} | {'DATE':<12}")
    print("=" * 92)

    for scheme in scheme_list:
        code = scheme['schemeCode']
        name = scheme['schemeName']
        
        try:
            # Request data from MFAPI
            response = requests.get(f"{base_url}{code}/latest", timeout=10)
            response.raise_for_status()
            data = response.json()

            if "data" in data and len(data["data"]) > 0:
                # API data is usually in reverse chronological order.
                latest = data["data"][0]
                nav = latest["nav"]
                date = latest["date"]

                final_report.append({
                    "name": name,
                    "code": code,
                    "nav": nav,
                    "date": date
                })

                # Truncated name for table alignment
                short_name = (name[:62] + '..') if len(name) > 65 else name
                print(f"{short_name:<65} | {nav:<10} | {date:<12}")
            else:
                print(f"Data missing for: {name}")

        except Exception as e:
            print(f"Could not retrieve {code}: {e}")

    return final_report

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Input scheme list
    input_schemes = [
        {"schemeCode": 120251, "schemeName": "ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund Direct Growth"},
        {"schemeCode": 118955, "schemeName": "HDFC Flexi Cap Direct Plan Growth"},
        {"schemeCode": 120334, "schemeName": "ICICI Prudential Multi Asset Fund Direct Growth"}
    ]

    print(f"Querying MFAPI for latest records...\n")
    results = fetch_latest_navs(input_schemes)

Querying MFAPI for latest records...

SCHEME NAME                                             | NAV        | DATE
=================================================================================
ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund Direct Growth       | 453.09000  | 09-01-2026  
HDFC Flexi Cap Direct Plan Growth                       | 2264.30200 | 09-01-2026  
ICICI Prudential Multi Asset Fund Direct Growth         | 898.67790  | 09-01-2026  

Visualizing Mutual Fund Performance: Automating NAV Trend Graphs with Python 🔝

Keeping track of your investments is about more than just checking today’s price; it’s about understanding the trajectory of your portfolio. Using the free MFAPI service and Python’s powerful data visualization libraries, we can transform raw JSON data into a clear, actionable NAV performance graph. This script automates the process of fetching historical data and plotting a professional-grade trend line, allowing you to visualize market volatility and fund growth over time with a single command.

Key Features of the Script

• Real-Time API Integration: The script connects directly to the mfapi.in endpoint, ensuring you always have access to the most recent historical data without manual CSV downloads.
• Intelligent Data Parsing: It automatically converts API date strings into Python datetime objects, ensuring the X-axis of your graph is chronologically accurate.
• Dynamic Visuals with Matplotlib: Using the matplotlib library, the script generates a responsive window featuring grid lines, date rotation for readability, and data points markers to highlight daily fluctuations.
• Automated Sorting: Since the API returns data in reverse-chronological order (newest first), the code includes a sorting mechanism to ensure the trend line correctly flows from left to right.
• Lightweight & Portable: The logic is contained in a single function, making it easy to integrate into larger financial dashboards or automated reporting tools.

import requests
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
from datetime import datetime

def fetch_and_plot_nav(scheme_code):
    """
    Fetches historical NAV data for a given scheme code from mfapi.in
    and plots the variation over time.
    """
    api_url = f"https://api.mfapi.in/mf/{scheme_code}"
    
    print(f"Fetching data for Scheme Code: {scheme_code}...")
    
    try:
        response = requests.get(api_url, timeout=10)
        response.raise_for_status()
        data = response.json()
        
        if data.get("status") != "SUCCESS":
            print("Error: Could not find data for this scheme code.")
            return

        scheme_name = data['meta']['scheme_name']
        nav_data = data['data']
        
        # Extract dates and NAV values
        # We take the last 60 entries for a clear 2-month view
        subset = nav_data[:60]
        
        # Parse dates and convert NAVs to floats
        dates = [datetime.strptime(item['date'], '%d-%m-%Y') for item in subset]
        nav_values = [float(item['nav']) for item in subset]
        
        # Sort by date
        plot_data = sorted(zip(dates, nav_values))
        dates, nav_values = zip(*plot_data)
        
        # Plotting
        plt.figure(figsize=(10, 6))
        plt.plot(dates, nav_values, marker='o', linestyle='-', 
		color='b', markersize=4)
        
        plt.title(f"NAV Variation: {scheme_name}", fontsize=12)
        plt.xlabel("Date")
        plt.ylabel("Net Asset Value (NAV)")
        plt.grid(True, linestyle='--', alpha=0.7)
        plt.xticks(rotation=45)
        plt.tight_layout()
        
        print("Displaying graph...")
        plt.show()

    except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
        print(f"Network error: {e}")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"An unexpected error occurred: {e}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    print("--- Mutual Fund NAV Tracker ---")
    user_code = input("Enter the Mutual Fund Scheme Code: ").strip()
    
    if user_code.isdigit():
        fetch_and_plot_nav(user_code)
    else:
        print("Please enter a valid numeric scheme code.")

Calculating Portfolio Valuation

Once the current Net Asset Value (NAV) is retrieved for each scheme, you can determine your total investment value by multiplying the NAV by the number of units held. This provides a real-time snapshot of your portfolio's worth:

import requests
import time
from datetime import datetime

def fetch_nav_with_retry(scheme_code):
    """
    Fetches the latest NAV for a given scheme code from the AMFI API.
    Implements exponential backoff for reliability.
    """
    api_url = f"https://api.mfapi.in/mf/{scheme_code}"
    retries = 5
    delay = 1
    
    for i in range(retries):
        try:
            response = requests.get(api_url, timeout=10)
            response.raise_for_status()
            data = response.json()
            
            # The API returns a list of NAVs, we take the most recent one (index 0)
            if "data" in data and len(data["data"]) > 0:
                latest_nav_data = data["data"][0]
                return {
                    "nav": float(latest_nav_data["nav"]),
                    "date": latest_nav_data["date"]
                }
            return None
        except (requests.RequestException, ValueError, KeyError):
            if i < retries - 1:
                time.sleep(delay)
                delay *= 2  # Exponential backoff: 1s, 2s, 4s, 8s, 16s
            else:
                return None

def calculate_portfolio():
    # User Input Data , expand this list based 
    input_schemes = [
        {"schemeCode": 120251, 
         "schemeName": "ICICI Prudential Equity & Debt Fund Direct Growth",
           "Units": 100.02},

        {"schemeCode": 118955, 
         "schemeName": "HDFC Flexi Cap Direct Plan Growth",
           "Units": 250.589},

        {"schemeCode": 120334, 
         "schemeName": "ICICI Prudential Multi Asset Fund Direct Growth",
           "Units": 200.567}
    ]

    results = []
    total_portfolio_value = 0.0

    print("Fetching real-time data from AMFI...")

    for scheme in input_schemes:
        nav_info = fetch_nav_with_retry(scheme["schemeCode"])
        
        if nav_info:
            current_value = nav_info["nav"] * scheme["Units"]
            total_portfolio_value += current_value
            
            results.append({
                "Date": nav_info["date"],
                "Fund Name": scheme["schemeName"],
                "NAV": nav_info["nav"],
                "Units": scheme["Units"],
                "Investment": round(current_value, 2)
            })
        else:
            print(f"Error: Could not fetch data for {scheme['schemeName']}")

    # --- OUTPUT ---
    print("\n" + "="*80)
    print(f" TOTAL INVESTMENT VALUE: ₹{total_portfolio_value:,.2f}")
    print("="*80)
    
    # Header
    print(f"{'Date':<12} | {'Fund Name':<50} | {'NAV':<8} | {'Units':<10} | {'Investment':<12}")
    print("-" * 105)
    
    # Rows
    for r in results:
        print(f"{r['Date']:<12} | {r['Fund Name'][:50]:<50} | {r['NAV']:<8.2f} | {r['Units']:<10.3f} | ₹{r['Investment']:<12,.2f}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    calculate_portfolio()

Using Excel or CSV file to store investment details 🔝

1. Ease of Maintenance: You can update your portfolio, add new funds, or adjust your unit balances within Excel without ever touching the Python code.
2. Versatility: While the example uses an Excel file, the script can be easily adapted to handle .csv files by simply swapping the method to read_csv().

import requests
import time
import pandas as pd
from datetime import datetime
from pathlib import Path
def fetch_nav_with_retry(scheme_code):
    """
    Fetches the latest NAV for a given scheme code from the AMFI API.
    Implements exponential backoff for reliability.
    """
    api_url = f"https://api.mfapi.in/mf/{scheme_code}"
    retries = 5
    delay = 1
    
    for i in range(retries):
        try:
            response = requests.get(api_url, timeout=10)
            response.raise_for_status()
            data = response.json()
            
            # The API returns a list of NAVs, we take the most recent one (index 0)
            if "data" in data and len(data["data"]) > 0:
                latest_nav_data = data["data"][0]
                return {
                    "nav": float(latest_nav_data["nav"]),
                    "date": latest_nav_data["date"]
                }
            return None
        except (requests.RequestException, ValueError, KeyError):
            if i < retries - 1:
                time.sleep(delay)
                delay *= 2  # Exponential backoff
            else:
                return None

def calculate_portfolio():
    # --- LOAD DATA FROM FILE ---
    try:
        # Update filename here if needed. Using pd.read_csv for your uploaded file.
        #df = pd.read_csv('input_schemes.xlsx - Sheet1.csv')
	# Looks for the file in the same folder as your script
	file_path = Path(__file__).parent / 'input_schemes.xlsx'
	df = pd.read_excel(file_path, sheet_name='Sheet1')
       # Convert dataframe to a list of dictionaries to maintain the loop logic
       input_schemes = df.to_dict('records')
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error reading the file: {e}")
        return

    results = []
    total_portfolio_value = 0.0

    print(f"Fetching real-time data for {len(input_schemes)} funds from AMFI...")

    for scheme in input_schemes:
        # Note: Ensure keys match the column names in your CSV exactly
        nav_info = fetch_nav_with_retry(scheme["schemeCode"])
        
        if nav_info:
            current_value = nav_info["nav"] * scheme["Units"]
            total_portfolio_value += current_value
            
            results.append({
                "Date": nav_info["date"],
                "Fund Name": scheme["schemeName"],
                "NAV": nav_info["nav"],
                "Units": scheme["Units"],
                "Investment": round(current_value, 2)
            })
        else:
            print(f"Error: Could not fetch data for {scheme['schemeName']}")

    # --- OUTPUT ---
    print("\n" + "="*85)
    print(f" TOTAL PORTFOLIO VALUE: ₹{total_portfolio_value:,.2f}")
    print("="*85)
    
    # Header
    print(f"{'Date':<12} | {'Fund Name':<40} | {'NAV':<8} | {'Units':<10} | {'Value (₹)':<12}")
    print("-" * 95)
    
    # Rows
    for r in results:
        print(f"{r['Date']:<12} | {r['Fund Name'][:40]:<40} | {r['NAV']:<8.2f} | {r['Units']:<10.3f} | ₹{r['Investment']:<12,.2f}")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    calculate_portfolio()

Automating the Script — Running on a Schedule 🔝

Instead of running the script manually each day, you can schedule it to execute automatically every evening after AMFI updates NAV data (usually by 9:00 PM IST).

Option 1 — Windows Task Scheduler

Open Task Scheduler and create a new Basic Task with these settings:

# In the Task Scheduler action, set:
Program/script : python
Arguments      : C:\your_folder\portfolio_tracker.py
Trigger        : Daily at 21:15 (9:15 PM IST)

Or run this once in Command Prompt to register the task automatically:

:: Run this in Command Prompt (as Administrator)
schtasks /create /tn "MF NAV Tracker" /tr "python C:\your_folder\portfolio_tracker.py" /sc daily /st 21:15

Option 2 — Linux / Mac (cron)

Open your crontab with crontab -e and add this line. It runs the script every weekday (Mon–Fri) at 9:15 PM IST.

# crontab -e
15 21 * * 1-5 /usr/bin/python3 /home/youruser/portfolio_tracker.py >> /home/youruser/nav_log.txt 2>&1

The >> nav_log.txt 2>&1 part saves all output and errors to a log file so you can review what ran each night.

Option 3 — Python schedule library (cross-platform)

If you prefer a pure Python approach that works on any OS, install the schedule library and wrap your function:

pip install schedule

import schedule
import time

def run_tracker():
    # Call the function from Part IV or Part V
    calculate_portfolio()

# Schedule to run every weekday at 9:15 PM
schedule.every().monday.at("21:15").do(run_tracker)
schedule.every().tuesday.at("21:15").do(run_tracker)
schedule.every().wednesday.at("21:15").do(run_tracker)
schedule.every().thursday.at("21:15").do(run_tracker)
schedule.every().friday.at("21:15").do(run_tracker)

# Keep the script alive to wait for the scheduled time
while True:
    schedule.run_pending()
    time.sleep(60)

Keep this script running in the background (or inside a screen / tmux session on Linux) and it will call calculate_portfolio() automatically each weekday evening.

Subhendu Mohapatra

Author

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