diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 687c157..019724e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -74,6 +74,11 @@ parser tuned to their template family.
   page 8, dropping holdings sections that landed on pages 4-7.
 - **CDSL MF holdings** rows with `DIRECT` (or any non-`ARN-XXXX`
   distribution-mode token) now correctly populate `pnl` and `return_`.
+- **Leading-dot decimals** (`.196`, `-.5`) are now recognised as
+  numeric by the NSDL / CDSL cell classifier. CDSL occasionally
+  drops the leading zero on sub-unit balances; under the old regex
+  those cells were mis-bucketed as text, shifting the row layout
+  and producing a silent `Σholdings ≠ balance` mismatch.
 
 ## 0.9.0 - 2026-05-22
 - Add support for CDSL statements
diff --git a/casparser/parsers/cdsl.py b/casparser/parsers/cdsl.py
index 2ce58e8..0b82d30 100644
--- a/casparser/parsers/cdsl.py
+++ b/casparser/parsers/cdsl.py
@@ -55,7 +55,10 @@ from .pageobj import Block
 ISIN_RE = re.compile(r"^[A-Z]{2}[0-9A-Z]{9}\d$")
 INF_ISIN_RE = re.compile(r"^INF[0-9A-Z]{8}\d$")
 INE_ISIN_RE = re.compile(r"^IN[E9][0-9A-Z]{8}\d$")
-NUMERIC_RE = re.compile(r"^-?[\d,]+(?:\.\d+)?$")
+# CDSL sometimes drops the leading zero on fractional values (e.g. a
+# `0.196` unit balance prints as `.196`), so the integer part is
+# optional when a decimal part is present.
+NUMERIC_RE = re.compile(r"^-?(?:[\d,]+(?:\.\d+)?|\.\d+)$")
 
 PERIOD_RE = re.compile(
     r"(?:for\s+the\s+period\s+from|statement\s+for\s+the\s+period\s+from)\s+"
diff --git a/casparser/parsers/nsdl.py b/casparser/parsers/nsdl.py
index aa123b2..25707b7 100644
--- a/casparser/parsers/nsdl.py
+++ b/casparser/parsers/nsdl.py
@@ -56,7 +56,10 @@ from .pageobj import Block, Cell
 ISIN_RE = re.compile(r"^[A-Z]{2}[0-9A-Z]{9}\d$")
 INF_ISIN_RE = re.compile(r"^INF[0-9A-Z]{8}\d$")
 INE_ISIN_RE = re.compile(r"^IN[E9][0-9A-Z]{8}\d$")
-NUMERIC_RE = re.compile(r"^-?[\d,]+(?:\.\d+)?$")
+# Some templates drop the leading zero on fractional values (e.g. a
+# `0.196` unit balance prints as `.196`), so the integer part is
+# optional when a decimal part is present.
+NUMERIC_RE = re.compile(r"^-?(?:[\d,]+(?:\.\d+)?|\.\d+)$")
 
 PERIOD_RE = re.compile(
     r"(?:for\s+the\s+period\s+from|statement\s+for\s+the\s+period\s+from)\s+"