LIC’s Big Share Sale Draws Investors Even as India’s IPO Market Stalls

LIC’s Big Share Sale Draws Investors Even as India’s IPO Market Stalls Good morning... I’m Ashutosh Joshi in Mumbai with your daily pre-market briefing. Asian stocks are tracking Wall Street higher in early Wednesday trading while oil is lower after optimism over a possible interim deal between Washington and Tehran eased concerns about energy supplies. At home, the share sale by mammoth state-run insurer LIC and the Reserve Bank of India’s policy decision are key focus areas for traders today. The government on Tuesday expanded the size of the LIC sale to raise $3.3 billion after the base offer was oversubscribed. The overwhelming response makes the deal the nation’s largest secondary share sale conducted through a stock exchange platform and the second-largest equity fundraise, behind Reliance Industries’ rights issue in 2020. As for the RBI, the central bank is expected to keep rates unchanged, but investors will look for signals on what could prompt future hikes and how it plans to manage the rupee after easing rules to attract foreign-currency inflows. Meanwhile, the benchmark NSE Nifty 50 Index again moved sharply during the new closing auction after surprising traders on Monday (more on that below). Bharti Airtel shares could be in action today after the telecom major’s first-quarter earnings missed estimates. In today’s newsletter, we cover: