Seven top Indian firms lose ₹1.13 lakh crore in market value as equities extend corrective phase; Reliance and Bharti Airtel hit hardest

The combined market valuation of seven of the top-10 most-valued firms eroded by ₹1.13 lakh crore last week, with Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries emerging as the biggest laggards, in-tandem with a bearish trend in equities.

Last week, the BSE benchmark Sensex declined 276.32 points, or 0.35%, and the NSE Nifty dipped 76.35 points, or 0.31%.

"Indian equity markets ended the week on a cautious note, extending their recent corrective phase as concerns over global interest rates, geopolitical uncertainty and volatility surrounding the new closing auction session weighed on investor sentiment," Ajit Mishra -- SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

Although markets recovered sharply on Friday, supported by strong buying in IT stocks following upbeat global technology cues, the benchmark indices remained under pressure for the third consecutive week, he added.

While Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), and Hindustan Unilever faced erosion from their market valuation, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) were the winners.

The valuation of Bharti Airtel tumbled ₹40,500.85 crore to ₹11,74,462.30 crore.

Reliance Industries' valuation eroded ₹40,056.32 crore to reach ₹17,38,119.27 crore.

The market valuation of HDFC Bank dropped ₹11,558.35 crore to ₹11,09,600.70 crore and that of Bajaj Finance fell ₹10,086.05 crore to ₹6,70,535.57 crore.

Larsen & Toubro's market capitalisation (mcap) declined ₹6,473.45 crore to ₹5,55,987.49 crore and that of LIC dipped ₹3,162.5 crore to ₹5,32,817.81 crore.

The mcap of Hindustan Unilever edged lower by ₹1,550.73 crore to  ₹4,72,361.83 crore.

However, the mcap of TCS jumped ₹16,643.2 crore to ₹8,48,079.71 crore.

The valuation of ICICI Bank climbed ₹4,475.28 crore to ₹10,22,805.73 crore and that of State Bank of India went up ₹599.99 crore to ₹9,65,568.75 crore.

Reliance Industries remained the most-valued firm, followed by Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, TCS, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, LIC and Hindustan Unilever.