Asian indices are lower today as Japanese and Hong Kong shares fall. The Nikkei 225 is off 0.88% while the Hang Seng is down 1.01%. The Shanghai Composite is trading down by 0.67%. Major US stock indexes fell on Thursday, with the S&P 500 down the most in a month, as worries over potential roadblocks to the Republicans’ tax overhaul more than offset optimism over strong retail sales data.

Back home, India share markets surged in the opening trade as investors cheer after the exit polls that released their survey results on Thursday evening predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was set to retain Gujarat and wrest Himachal Pradesh from the Congress. The BSE Sensex is trading higher by 305 points while the NSE Nifty is trading higher by 97 points. The BSE Mid Cap index opened up by 1% while BSE Small Cap index opened the day up by 1.1%.

All sectoral indices have opened the day in green with metal stocks and capital goods stocks witnessing maximum buying interest. The rupee is trading at 64.48 to the US$.

Meanwhile, multi-specialty hospital chain Shalby which recently concluded its Rs 5 billion initial public offering, has listed its shares on NSE as well as BSE today. The IPO, which opened for subscription from 5-7 December, was subscribed 2.8 times at a price band of Rs 245-248 per share.

2017 will undoubtedly be considered as the year of IPOs. The IPO activity is headed for a record. They have garnered more than Rs 650 billion, surpassing the previous record of Rs 375 billion in 2010. This year, the demand has exceeded expectations.

However, according to an article in Business Standard, an investor who bet on the 33 IPOs of 2017 (on a weighted average basis) has seen the value of investment rise by 17%. However, compared to broad market indices, the underperformance is a bitter disappointment.

Below chart clearly shows the underperformance of IPOs.