MUMBAI: Thanks partially to Monday’s sell-off on Dalal Street, the stock price of recently listed NSE slid below its IPO price for the first time and closed at that level. With foreign funds leading the day’s sell-off, sensex lost 1,124 points (1.5%) to close at 72,771 points, nearly a six-month low level. And on NSE, Nifty lost 360 points (1.6%) to close at 22,780 points, also its lowest close since March 30 this year.A host of factors led to the day’s slide in the market. The rupee neared the 96-per-dollar mark again, while Brent crude spiked to near the $100/barrel level, after signs of escalation of the war in the Persian Gulf region emerged. On the domestic front, the impact of a weak monsoon pushing up inflation, interest rates and bond yields also weighed on investor sentiment, market players said.In Monday’s market, on BSE the stock price of NSE opened just a tad above its IPO price of Rs 1,785, dipped to an intraday low of Rs 1,761 and closed at Rs 1,763, down 1.7% on the day. On the day of listing, Sept 24, the stock had touched an intraday high of Rs 1,878 and has been on a gradual slide since.In the broader market, the two benchmark indices were weighed down by weak global cues, elevated crude oil prices and bond yields, persistent foreign fund selling and heightened geopolitical uncertainty following the stalemate in the US-Iran peace talks, said Pabitro Mukherjee, deputy vice president-research, Bajaj Broking.The slide in the market came mainly on the back of a Rs 5,353-crore net selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in stocks alone. Although domestic funds, with a net buying figure of Rs 5,189 crore, nearly matched the selling by foreign players, it was not enough to fully cushion the pressure.As a result, investors’ wealth lost during the day was at about Rs 7.5 lakh crore, with the market capitalisation of companies listed on BSE now at Rs 474.4 lakh crore, exchange data showed.In the international market, Brent rallied 2.2% on Monday while on Friday, the Indian crude basket was priced at nearly $121 a barrel. In comparison, in April, at the height of the war in West Asia, it had hit a high of $114.5.Rising crude prices are now threatening the domestic inflation rate, pushing up yields on Indian govt bonds and also having an adverse effect on the rupee.
