Seven of India’s Top 10 Most-Valued Firms Lose ?88,600 Crore; Airtel and TCS Lead Declines

Mumbai — India’s top corporates witnessed a sharp decline in market value last week, with seven of the ten most-valued companies collectively losing ?88,635 crore in market capitalisation. The downturn was led by weakness in telecom and IT stocks, which dragged the broader indices lower.

During the holiday-shortened trading week, the Sensex fell 722 points (0.86%), while the Nifty 50 dropped 230 points (0.89%), extending the cautious sentiment in equity markets.

Bharti Airtel and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) emerged as the biggest losers. Airtel’s market value plunged by ?30,506 crore, bringing it down to ?11.41 lakh crore, while TCS lost ?23,680 crore, reducing its market capitalisation to ?10.82 lakh crore. Together, the two companies accounted for more than half of the total wealth erosion among the top ten firms.

Other major laggards included:

• Hindustan Unilever, down ?12,253 crore to ?5.67 lakh crore.

• Reliance Industries, which saw a ?11,164 crore decline, closing the week at ?20 lakh crore.

• HDFC Bank, whose valuation slipped ?7,304 crore to ?15.11 lakh crore.

• Infosys, which lost ?2,139 crore.

• ICICI Bank, which dipped ?1,588 crore.

Despite the broad weakness, a few large-cap names managed to defy the downward trend.

• Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) added ?18,469 crore, taking its value to ?5.84 lakh crore.

• State Bank of India (SBI) gained ?17,492 crore, reaching ?8.82 lakh crore.

• Bajaj Finance advanced ?14,965 crore, with its market value rising to ?6.63 lakh crore.

Even with the weekly decline, Reliance Industries maintained its position as India’s most valuable company, followed by HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, TCS, ICICI Bank, SBI, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, LIC, and Hindustan Unilever.

Market analysts attributed the fall in large-cap stocks to global volatility, cautious investor sentiment, and persistent foreign fund outflows. However, they noted that financial stocks continued to show relative resilience, helping cushion the broader market’s losses.

With inputs from IANS