Dalal Street ended the week in the red, dragging down the valuations of several heavyweight companies, wiping more than Rs 2 lakh crore from seven of the 10 most valuable companies in India. Tata Consultancy Services and Reliance Industries accounted for the lion’s share of the decline as the broader market remained under pressure.The decline in stock prices reflects weakness in benchmark indices. Over the course of the week, the BSE Sensex fell by 1,829.33 points, or 2.33%, while the NSE Nifty fell by 455.6 points, or 1.87%.“Markets closed lower after two consecutive weeks of gains, weighed down by rising geopolitical tensions and weak comments on earnings from major IT companies,” said Ajit Mishra, Senior Vice President, Research, Religare Broking Ltd.He pointed out that global factors are still affecting investor sentiment, with uncertainty about the West Asian crisis and fears of supply disruptions leading to higher crude oil prices.The overall impact was visible in the combined market capitalization of the key companies, which fell by Rs 2,05,343.06 crore.Tata Consultancy Services saw the biggest erosion, with its valuation falling by Rs 66,699.44 crore to Rs 8,67,364.12 crore. Reliance Industries also registered a huge decline of Rs 50,670.34 crore, taking its valuation to Rs 17,96,647.50 crore.Among others, HDFC Bank’s market cap fell by Rs 23,090.05 crore to Rs 12,08,225.48 crore.
Life Insurance Corporation of India lost Rs 19,670.75 crore, taking its valuation to Rs 5,13,020.56 crore.Bharti Airtel’s valuation fell by Rs 19,406.59 crore to Rs 11,05,718.62 crore, while ICICI Bank’s valuation fell by Rs 14,663.27 crore to Rs 9,50,345.40 crore. Larsen & Toubro also registered a decline of Rs 11,142.62 crore, ending the week at Rs 5,52,171.88 crore.On the other hand, some companies were able to achieve gains. Hindustan Unilever added Rs 20,652.91 crore to reach Rs 5,47,219.80 crore in market valuation.
State Bank of India saw an increase of Rs 19,522.76 crore, taking its total capital to Rs 10,16,752.53 crore, while Bajaj Finance rose by Rs 8,253.64 crore to Rs 5,73,690.81 crore.Despite the declines, Reliance Industries remained the country’s most valuable company. It was followed by HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Unilever and Life Insurance Corporation of India.