Asian stocks are lower today as Japanese and Hong Kong shares fall. The Nikkei 225 is off 0.99% while the Hang Seng is down 0.84%. The Shanghai Composite is trading down by 0.32%. Overnight, the US markets closed lower as market participants positioned to US Federal Reserve policy.

Back home, India share markets opened the day on a flat note with a negative bias. The BSE Sensex is trading lower by 31 points while the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 23 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index both opened the day down by 0.6%.

Barring information technology stocks, all sectoral indices have opened the day on a negative note with metal stocksand realty stocks witnessing maximum selling pressure. The rupee is trading at 64.04 to the US$.

In the news from the IPO space. The initial public offer (IPO) of Bandhan Bank has been oversubscribed 14.6 times so far on the final day of bidding Monday.

The Rs 44.73-billion IPO has received bids for 1218.1 million equity shares against the total offer size of 83.5 million shares.

The IPO also consists of an offer for sale of up to 140.5 equity shares by IFC and up to 7.6 million equity shares by IFC FIG. The bank is aimed to raise Rs 44.13 billion - Rs 44.73 billion at a price of Rs 370-375 per share, respectively.

Meanwhile, state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics' initial public offer was subscribed 45% on the second day of bidding on Monday.

The IPO, through which the Bengaluru-based firm aims to raise Rs 42.3 billion, received bids for 15.4 shares against the total issue size of 34.1 million shares.

The IPO is of 34.1 million shares and is scheduled to close today. The price band for the issue has been fixed at Rs 1215-1240. SBI Capital Markets and Axis Capital are managing the issue.

To know our view on the above IPOs, you can read our IPO note here.

Speaking of IPOs, the demand for IPO's has reached sky-high levels. Avenue Supermarts was seen as the first company last year to cross the 100-time subscription mark swiftly followed by CDSL and Dixon technologies, among others.

IPO Subscription Times (2017)

This euphoria is something similar to what was seen in 2007-08. When everyone around you is clamoring to get a piece of the IPO pie, it makes sitting tight difficult. And, why should you sit tight when stocks like Avenue Supermart lets you pocket a cool 100% gain from day 1 of the listing?

History suggests that these cases are few and far between. More than 70% of the IPOs listed in 2007 and 2008 are in the red, even today when the Sensex is at an all-time high.

A merit-based selection primarily including valuation, business, and management quality is the logical way to go about investing in IPOs. If it means going against the herd, so be it. And going by recent past, this strategy has been proven to be successful more often than not.

Moving on to the news from the FMCG sector. As per an article in a leading financial daily, Godrej Agrovet Ltd is planning to bid for Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd, which is undergoing bankruptcy resolution, with an eye on its palm oil business.

A bid would mark Godrej joining the race for Ruchi Soya, in which companies such as Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, ITC Ltdand Emami Ltd have evinced interest.

According to the report, the company, which is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, has received as many as 26 applications from Indian and foreign conglomerates to acquire a 51% stake.

In December 2017, NCLT's Mumbai bench admitted Ruchi Soya's insolvency resolution process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, following petitions by Standard Chartered Bank and DBS Bank.

Ruchi Soya is among the 26 companies on the second list of bad loan accounts that the Reserve Bank of India sent to banks last year asking them to conclude a debt resolution.

Godrej Agrovet share price opened the day down by 0.6%.