History repeats in Paytm IPO flop

We don't know whether Paytm will mark the top of the current bull market but it certainly does embody all the elements that mark excess, writes Debashis Basu

Paytm on Friday made history of an unsavoury kind. The largest-ever initial public offering (IPO) in the Indian markets, priced at Rs 2,150 a share, opened for trading 9 per cent down and then fell precipitately. After a weak attempt to rise around 11 a.m., the stock came under heavy selling pressure, to end the day at the lower circuit, down 27.6 per cent. Soon after, a foreign brokerage firm put out a target price of Rs 1,200, which is 44 per cent below Paytm’s issue price. The business is a cash-guzzler and cannot be profitable, it said. And yet,