The benchmark equity indices again touched new highs on Monday to close at record levels though the day belonged to HDFC Asset Management Company (HDFC AMC) which made a stupendous listing on the bourses following its equally strong public issue.
Shares of HDFC AMC made their debut at ₹1,739, much higher than the issue price of ₹1,100. Later in the day, it touched a high of ₹1,842.95 before closing at ₹1,815.15 — a gain of more than 65% over its issue price.
On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), HDFC AMC shares closed at ₹1,815.25.
At Monday’s closing price, the market capitalisation of HDFC AMC is pegged at ₹38,479.15 crore, making it the largest listed mutual fund house in the country. Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management, the only other listed mutual fund, has a market capitalisation of ₹15,786.54 crore.
Incidentally, HDFC AMC is the second-largest fund house in the country in terms of total assets under management after ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund.
‘Valuations pricey’
Market participants, however, advised caution after the strong surge in the stock price on the day of listing.
“While the company has strong fundamentals they cannot be justified at current valuations,” said Arun Kejriwal of Kejriwal Research & Investment Services.
“The company had priced its initial public offer attractively because of the issue of distributor allocation that was subsequently cancelled. Treat these gains as supernatural and enjoy the benefits,” he added.
The Sensex gained 135.73 points or 0.36% to close at 37,691.89. The broader market sentiment was positive as well with nearly 1,600 stocks gaining ground as against 1,145 declines. The broader Nifty closed the day at 11,387.10, up 26.30 points.
