LIC rakes in record $4.7 billion from share sales amid market surge in Q3

livemint.com:

MUMBAI : Life Insurance Corp. of India (LIC) reaped windfall gains in the December quarter, selling a record $4.7 billion worth of shares of listed domestic companies as the shares reached all-time highs during the market bull run.

According to a Mint study based on regulatory filings, the state-run insurer sold part of its investments in at least 100 top listed companies, which, based on volume-weighted average price for the October-December period, adds up to ₹39,163 crore—the highest ever in the third quarter of a financial year. “Most stocks that were sold during the quarter by LIC were at their highest ever price levels, which means the actual value of the share sale by LIC could be far higher than even ₹50,000 crore," said a person aware of the developments at LIC.

At ₹39,163 crore, LIC has raked in 31% more money from shares of Indian companies in the December quarter of FY24, compared to ₹29,900 crore in the same quarter a year ago. This happened as the BSE’s 30-share Sensex surpassed its highest 72,000 level, rising more than 10% from October to December, propelled by cooling inflation in the US, hopes of a rate cut, continuous decline in US bond yields and the dollar, and consistent purchase of Indian stocks by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs).

Typically, whenever LIC, the largest domestic institutional investor, sells shares in bulk, FPIs and mutual funds tend to be net heavy buyers, which often prevents the market from a drastic fall. During the December quarter, the market maintained its bull run despite significant share sale by LIC with domestic mutual funds and foreign investors buying shares totalling ₹61,527 crore and ₹50,588 crore, respectively.