9 of top-10 cos lose Rs40k cr in m-cap, RIL lone gainer

Volatile trade this past week saw nine of the top-10 firms lose a sum of over Rs40,000 crore from their market capitalisation, with Reliance Industries Ltd being the sole exception to the trend by adding to its kitty. The country’s most valued firm, Reliance Industries Ltd, the numero-uno in the list, saw its market capitalisation (m-cap) swell by Rs441.5 crore, taking its total valuation to Rs3,38,107.2 crore for the week ended 8 May. On Friday, the Supreme Court gave a landmark judgement in the case related to RIL-RNRL gas price tussle, rejecting a plea for cheap gas by the RNRL saying a national asset should be priced only by the government. Prior to the judgement being delivered, RIL’s shares witnessed a consistent downfall after closing at Rs1,032.50 on 30 April. The company’s share price dwindled to Rs1,023.55 on Monday and then declined further over the course of the next few days’ trade to settle at Rs1,010.90 on 6 May. However, once the ruling was made in its favour, shares of RIL surged 2.27% to close at Rs1,033.85 on the BSE. As a result, for the entire week, shares of RIL had gained 0.13% to close at Rs1,033.85 by the end of Friday’s trade. Meanwhile, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark index Sensex fell 789.6 points during the week, or 4.49%, to settle at 16,769.11 points at the end of Friday’s trade.State-run firms — ONGC and NTPC — together lost Rs6,476.87 crore from their market valuation. ONGC, the second most valued firm, saw its m-cap fall by Rs2,106.78 crore to Rs2,23,565.39 crore and NTPC, at third place, witnessed a value erosion of Rs4,370.09 crore from its m-cap, taking its total valuation to Rs1,66,269.7 crore. IT bellwether Infosys Technologies, at 4th spot, lost Rs6,685 crore from its m-cap, taking its total valuation to Rs1,50,320.76 crore, while trading firm MMTC, at 5th place, saw its valuation eroded by Rs6,458.25 crore to Rs1,49,986.25 crore. Top software outsourcing firm TCS, at 6th spot, witnessed a value erosion of Rs4,667.92 crore, reducing its m-cap to Rs1,45,253.6 crore. Public sector lender, SBI, saw its valuation fall by Rs4,545.74 crore to Rs1,41,346.51 crore. Power equipment maker BHEL, at 8th spot, lost Rs5,154.65 crore and NMDC, at 9th place, saw its m-cap fall by Rs1,982.35 crore. At the end of the week, BHEL’s m-cap stood at Rs1,16,838.63 crore and NMDC’s valuation fell to Rs1,16,324 crore. Private telecom services provider Bharti Airtel, ranked the 10th largest firm by m-cap, witnessed a value erosion of Rs4,063.35 crore, reducing its total market capitalisation to Rs1,09,254.65 crore.