New Delhi
The Indian stock market experienced a downturn last week, marked by heavy selling in large-cap stocks. The combined market capitalization of six of the top 10 most valued companies fell by Rs 1.55 lakh crore, market experts said on Sunday.
Reliance Industries (RIL) saw the biggest drop, with its market cap decreasing by Rs 74,563.37 crore, bringing its total to Rs 17,37,556.68 crore. Other losers included Bharti Airtel, whose market valuation fell by Rs 26,274.75 crore to Rs 8,94,024.60 crore, and ICICI Bank, which lost Rs 22,254.79 crore, bringing its market cap down to Rs 8,88,432.06 crore. ITC’s market cap decreased by Rs 15,449.47 crore to Rs 5,98,213.49 crore, while LIC and Hindustan Unilever saw declines of Rs 9,930.25 crore and Rs 7,248.49 crore, respectively.
On the other hand, several companies saw gains in their market valuations. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) led the pack, gaining Rs 57,744.68 crore, pushing its market cap to Rs 14,99,697.28 crore. Infosys’ market cap jumped by Rs 28,838.95 crore to Rs 7,60,281.13 crore, and State Bank of India (SBI) saw an increase of Rs 19,812.65 crore, bringing its market valuation to Rs 7,52,568.58 crore. HDFC Bank also saw a gain of Rs 14,678.09 crore, increasing its market cap to Rs 13,40,754.74 crore.
Market experts attribute the weakness in the Indian market to persistent selling by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), continuing from October, when FIIs sold Rs 1,13,858 crore. So far in November, they have sold Rs 19,849 crore.
