Going up
World stock markets Stock markets around the world saw a combined $5.2 trillion of value erased in January. According to Standard & Poor’s, equity markets have registered one of their worst ever starts to a new year, as developed markets fell 7.83% and emerging markets 12.44%. Fifty out of 52 global equity markets ended the first month of the year in negative territory.
AIM The amount of money raised through IPOs on London’s AIM market fell by 24% in 2007 compared with 2006. The volume of IPOs from non-UK issuers fell by 21% to $7.6 billion via 88 deals. Non-UK issuers accounted for 64% of total AIM IPOs in 2007, up from 61% in 2006.
Reliance Power Shares in Reliance Power fell 17% on their first day of trading, leading Indian daily newspaper The Hindu to brand it a "damp squib". The terrible performance of the much-hyped $3 billion Bombay Stock Exchange IPO on its first day has dampened investor sentiment and contributed to the last-minute withdrawal of other IPOs, such as property company Emaar MGF, which had hoped to raise $1.6 billion. The poor performance came despite record-breaking demand for the deal, which was 73 times covered at the top of the price range.