Last week’s bloodbath at the Dalal Street erroded the market capitalisation of five of the top-10 most-valued firms by over Rs 1 lakh crore. The broader equity benchmarks also ended on a muted note. The BSE Sensex slipped by 30.96 points, or 0.04%, while the NSE Nifty declined 36.6 points, or 0.15%, reflecting a largely subdued trading environment. Of the top ten firms, HDFC took the hardest hit. Market movement through the week showed a mixed pattern. Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, noted that while early sessions supported gains, selling pressure in later sessions weighed on overall performance. “Markets ended the week on a largely flat note with a negative bias, reflecting underlying caution among participants. The tone remained positive during the first three sessions; however, a sharp decline on Thursday erased the gains, followed by a volatile final session,” he said. Among the major constituents, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Finance and Hindustan Unilever were the key laggards, together dragging down valuations significantly over the week. The total market value erosion for these five companies stood at Rs 1,02,771.87 crore. Individually, HDFC Bank saw its market capitalisation fall by Rs 56,124.48 crore to Rs 12,01,267.28 crore. Hindustan Unilever lost Rs 18,009.62 crore, bringing its valuation down to Rs 4,89,631.32 crore, while Bajaj Finance recorded a decline of Rs 15,338.42 crore to Rs 5,16,715.12 crore. Tata Consultancy Services witnessed a reduction of Rs 7,127.63 crore, taking its mcap to Rs 8,64,940 crore, whereas ICICI Bank edged lower by Rs 6,171.72 crore to Rs 8,91,673.06 crore. On the other hand, select heavyweights managed to post gains during the week. Reliance Industries led the gains with its valuation rising by Rs 45,942.75 crore to Rs 19,14,235.92 crore. Bharti Airtel added Rs 24,462.03 crore to reach Rs 10,52,893.75 crore, while State Bank of India climbed by Rs 10,707.52 crore to Rs 9,76,968.57 crore. Further, Life Insurance Corporation of India and Infosys also registered increases of Rs 2,624.88 crore and Rs 2,473.79 crore respectively, taking their valuations to Rs 4,91,610.45 crore and Rs 5,08,789.37 crore. At the end of the week, Reliance Industries retained its position as the most-valued listed firm, followed by HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Life Insurance Corporation of India and Hindustan Unilever.
