The shares of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India rallied 1.9 percent on the Indian stock market on Tuesday, touching record high prices for the first time since the firm launched its initial public offering (IPO) two years ago.
The investors of LIC had been facing a lull when it came to getting returns after bagging shares of the company during the IPO, but this is the first time that LIC share prices have touched the listing price of the company.
This means that after two years of the LIC IPO listing, which was India’s largest public offering, the subscribers of the issue are now close to recovering their investment in the company. This is all thanks to the 75 percent rally LIC witnessed since March, reported Bloomberg.
The state-owned life insurer’s stock climbed 1.9% Tuesday, to close at its highest level since its IPO in May 2022. The climb over the past 10 months has coincided with a broader surge in Indian equities that’s added some $30 billion to LIC’s market value.
LIC shares opened at ₹920 on January 30 after closing at ₹915 the previous day. Boosted by the stock market performance this week, LIC shares closed at ₹933 at 3:30 pm, finally close to the listing price of the company.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government raised a record $2.7 billion by selling shares in the country’s largest life insurance firm to investors that included millions of families that own the company’s policies. Concerns over LIC’s size, low-profit margins and rigid sales model compared with more agile private peers saw the stock at one point fall more than 40% below its offering price.
Sensex, Nifty on Tuesday
LIC saw a major boom today after the share remained stagnant, as the share market in India surged on Monday, gaining 1200 points. However, BSE Sensex saw a significant dip on Tuesday, closing over 800 points lower than the previous day.
While Sensex saw a major boom yesterday, the benchmark BSE index declined over over 1 per cent due to selling in Reliance Industries, ITC and Bajaj Finance on Tuesday, January 30.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 801.67 points or 1.11 per cent to settle at 71,139.90. During the day, it plummeted 865.85 points or 1.20 per cent to 71,075.72. The Nifty declined 215.50 points or 0.99 per cent to 21,522.10.
Among the Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance fell by 5.03 per cent after its December quarter earnings failed to cheer investors.
(With inputs from PTI)