New listings in bear hug

Investors who used to feel proud after being allotted shares in a public issue till just a month ago were shell-shocked on Thursday as they piled up huge losses under the continuing gloomy weather on Dalal Street.

In a startling misfortune for investors who put their money into initial public offers, share prices of as many as 24 out of the total 29 companies that sold their shares to public through IPOs this year plunged below their issue prices on Thursday.

Moreover, the bear hug did not spare high-profile IPOs like Reliance Petroleum and Sun TV either, who surged to astronomically high levels on the very first day of trading.

RPL dropped to as low as Rs 59.50 on Thursday before settling at Rs 60.55, which was more than 5 per cent below Wednesday's close.

Market observers said there was further downside risks left in these stocks, which are likely to continue to follow the broader bear market trends going forward.

Among other new listings, Emkay Share and Stock Brokers, Godawari Power and Ispat, R Systems International, Kewal Kiran Clothing, Uttam Sugar Mills, Visa Steel, Nitco Tiles, M&M Financial Services, JK Cement, K Sera Sera, Gitanjali Gems, GVK Power and Infrastructure, Inox Leisure, Raj Rayon, Nitin Spinners and Royal Orchid Hotels slipped sharply below their offer prices in the intraday trade on Thursday.

A few stocks like Entertainment Network India Ltd, Sadbhav Engineering, Pratibha Industries, BL Kashyap and Sons and Tantia Constructions managed to hold above their issue prices throughout the day.

Nine stocks that entered the stock market through IPOs this year managed to close above their issue prices on Thursday.

However, four of them -- RPL, Sun TV, GSPL and Plethico Pharma -- could manage only a marginal gain over the offer prices.

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