The internal valuation that’s needed “almost annually” for a company of LIC’s size, “hasn’t been done,” Sitharaman said. Given that the 65-year old insurer hasn’t ever been valued, the process will take time, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

The Nifty Bank index closed 0.87 per cent up at 39684.8.

“The fact that there is not a significant drop down in auto stock prices or a significant underperformance is an even more surprising phenomenon. But probably these are the signs of the bullish markets.”

Nifty50 remained in a range of 90 points and closed with a gain of around 140 points. It formed a Small Bearish candle on the daily scale, but has been forming higher lows since the last four session.

The market capitalization of all BSE-listed stocks rose to a record high of Rs. 274.7 lakh crore today as investors’ appetite for risk continues to rise.

This will help the lender meet the 25 per cent minimum public shareholding criterion stipulated by the market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India.

“Metal is a high risk, high reward game and therefore it is extremely difficult to have a very large exposure in that space. We have trimmed at least 50% of the exposure we had.”

“I would probably want to put some incremental money to work in HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra where I find valuations to be a little bit more comfortable.”

In the international market, gold was trading marginally lower at $1,766 per ounce and Silver was flat at $23.36 per ounce.

The initial public offering (IPO) consists of fresh issue of equity shares aggregating to Rs 17.5 crore, and an offer for sale of up to 29.89 million equity shares, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).