Nine top-valued companies lose Rs 2.09 lakh crore in m-cap as bears tighten grip on market

Nine of the top-10 most valued firms together lost a whopping Rs 2,09,952.26 crore from market valuation last week, in line with weak trends in equities, with Hindustan Unilever and Reliance Industries Limited taking the biggest hit. 

Last week, the BSE benchmark tanked 1,822.46 points or 2.24 percent. Every six of seven stocks on BSE tumbled in Friday’s trade, as benchmark indices cracked on subdued quarterly results and a surge in US treasury yields ahead of the US elections. Strong FPI outflows also made investors jittery and ‘Buy on dips’ proved to be futile.  

Friday marked the sixth day of consecutive fall for domestic indices. In the past 10 sessions, these indices were down in eight occasions. Midcap and smallcap stocks have taken even bigger hit.    

“The dismal Q2 earnings so far have aggravated the investors’ woes while persistent FII selling continued to create havoc in the market,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd. 

The country’s largest private lender, HDFC Bank, was the only gainer from the top-10 pack. 

The market valuation of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) was hit the most losing Rs 44,195.81 crore taking its overall valuation to Rs 5,93,870.94 crore. 

Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries (RIL) saw its valuation tumble by Rs 41,994.54 crore to Rs 17,96,726.60 crore. 

The country’s largest public sector lender, State Bank of India, recorded a Rs 35,117.72 crore drop in its market capitalisation (m-cap) to Rs 6,96,655.84 crore.  

Bharti Airtel, the second largest telecom player, lost Rs 24,108.72 crore taking its m-cap to Rs 9,47,598.89 crore. 

IT bellwether, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), also took a hit with its m-cap losing Rs 23,137.67 crore to settle at Rs 14,68,183.73 crore. 

The valuation of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) diminished by Rs 19,797.24 crore to Rs 5,71,621.67 crore. 

Another IT major, Infosys saw its valuation decline by Rs 10,629.49 crore to Rs 7,69,496.61 crore. 

ITC’s m-cap also declined by Rs 5,690.96 crore to Rs 6,02,991.33 crore, while ICICI Bank lost Rs 5,280.11 crore from its m-cap taking its tally to Rs 8,84,911.27 crore. 

The lone winner of the pack, HDFC Bank saw its overall valuation jump by Rs 46,891.13 crore to Rs 13,29,739.43 crore. 

Reliance Industries retained the title of the most valued firm, followed by TCS, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Infosys, State Bank of India, ITC, Hindustan Unilever and LIC.