Kamal Ghorui
The holiday-shortened trading week took a toll on the country’s top companies, with seven of the ten most valued firms collectively losing Rs 1.75 lakh crore in market capitalisation. Reliance Industries saw the largest share of the erosion, mirroring the broader weakness in equities. The downturn in stocks was reflected in the benchmark indices, with the BSE Sensex falling 949.74 points, or 1.27%, and the NSE Nifty slipping 294.9 points, also down 1.27% over the week. According to Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, the market witnessed significant fluctuations throughout the period. “Markets ended the week on a weaker note, reflecting heightened volatility amid fluctuating global cues and escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The week was marked by sharp swings, with early losses driven by concerns over energy supply disruptions, a weakening rupee, which touched a record low, and rising volatility,” he said. He added that sentiment briefly improved mid-week on expectations of a temporary easing in tensions between the US and Iran. “However, renewed selling pressure on Friday erased the gains, dragging indices lower,” Mishra said. Reliance Industries saw its valuation shrink by Rs 89,720.3 crore to Rs 18,24,515.62 crore. HDFC Bank also posted a steep decline, with its market capitalisation dropping by Rs 37,248.59 crore to Rs 11,64,018.69 crore. State Bank of India followed with a loss of Rs 35,399.42 crore, bringing its valuation to Rs 9,41,569.15 crore. ICICI Bank’s market cap fell by Rs 8,121.76 crore to Rs 8,83,551.30 crore, while Bharti Airtel declined by Rs 2,480.42 crore to Rs 10,50,413.33 crore. Hindustan Unilever registered a fall of Rs 2,091.13 crore, taking its valuation to Rs 4,87,540.19 crore, and Tata Consultancy Services saw a marginal dip of Rs 271.35 crore to Rs 8,64,668.65 crore. On the other hand, Larsen & Toubro recorded gains of Rs 18,051.68 crore, lifting its market capitalisation to Rs 4,90,536.19 crore. Bajaj Finance added Rs 8,680.36 crore to reach Rs 5,25,395.48 crore, while Infosys rose by Rs 6,245.3 crore to Rs 5,15,034.67 crore. Reliance Industries remained the most valued company during the week, followed by HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Larsen & Toubro and Hindustan Unilever.
