New Delhi 

The declining risk appetite of investors amid rising rates and inflation continue to play spoilsport across markets. With persistent bears hammering, the prospects of a decent listing of Life India Insurance (LIC) has diminished, as per trends in the grey market. Shares of LIC were trading at a discount of Rs 15-20 a piece over its issue price of Rs 949 in the grey market ahead of its listing on Tuesday, May 17.

In the unofficial market, the grey market premium (GMP) of LIC has shed over 100 per cent from its peak level of Rs 85-90 a share quoted on May 1. The LIC GMP wiped off gains and traded flat on May 9, at Rs 5-10 a share, and has remained in the negative territory, i.e. Rs (-) 25-30 a share since May 9.

Analysts, too, expect lackluster listing of the insurance behemoth as markets enter the bearish zone, and as foreign investors gave a lukewarm response to the issue. While policyholders and employees dominated the subscription numbers at 5.97 times and 1.94 times, respectively, retail investors, qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) and non-institutional investors’ (NIIs) booked 1.94 times, 2.83 times and 2.8 times, respectively. The issue offer for LIC was in the price band of Rs 902-949. While policyholders were offered Rs 60 discount per share, retail investors received a discount of Rs 45.