IPO market gets reality check as $4 billion stock lockups expire

The country's newest stocks joined a broader market selloff in the country as sale restrictions on about $4 billion of such shares expired on Monday.

That's adding pressure to a stock market already down $1 trillion in value since mid-Dec. Lockups in FirstCry operator BrainBees Solutions, Ceigall India, Ola Electric Mobility and Unicommerce eSolutions were among those that ended on Monday, according to data compiled by Nuvama Alternative & Quantitative Research.

On Monday, shares of most of the companies cited by Nuvama Alternative fell, led by a 20% drop in train signalling firm Quadrant Future Tek. Unicommerce eSolutions' shares also slumped 10% in their biggest plunge since trading debut in Aug. Ola Electric tumbled 3.3% while food delivery firm Swiggy's shares closed almost 5% lower.

It was India's biggest lockup expiry in recent months, but not all these shares were up for sale as the companies' founders hold sizable portions, according to Abhilash Pagaria, head of the researcher Nuvama.

The expiries come amid a continued rush of Indian IPOs - the securities regulator says it's processing more than 60 applications - which has defied the broader pessimism engulfing the nation's shares. Concerns about the slowing economy and earnings growth have contributed to a 20% decline in the total market cap of Indian stocks from a Dec high to $4.1 trillion.