Market recap: Mcap of 8 of 10 most valued firms erodes by ₹79,129 crore; Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank hit hard

The combined market valuation of eight of the top-10 most valued domestic firms eroded by ₹79,129.21 crore last week, with Bajaj Finance and ICICI Bank taking the biggest hit, amid a largely bearish trend in equities.

Last week, the BSE benchmark index declined by 444.71 points or 0.51%. From the top-10 pack, Reliance Industries and Larsen & Toubro were the only gainers, while HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Infosys, Bajaj Finance and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) faced erosion from their valuation.

The market capitalisation (mcap) of Bajaj Finance dropped by ₹19,289.7 crore to ₹6,33,106.69 crore.

ICICI Bank's valuation tumbled ₹18,516.31 crore to ₹9,76,668.15 crore. The mcap of Bharti Airtel tanked ₹13,884.63 crore to ₹11,87,948.11 crore and that of State Bank of India diminished by ₹7,846.02 crore to ₹8,88,816.17 crore.

Infosys lost ₹7,145.95 crore from its market valuation which stood at ₹6,64,220.58 crore.

The mcap of TCS declined by ₹6,783.92 crore to ₹11,65,078.45 crore and that of HDFC Bank dipped by ₹4,460.93 crore to ₹15,38,558.71 crore.

The valuation of LIC eroded by ₹1,201.75 crore to ₹5,48,820.05 crore. However, the mcap of Reliance Industries jumped ₹20,434.03 crore to ₹21,05,652.74 crore.

Larsen & Toubro added ₹4,910.82 crore taking its valuation to ₹5,60,370.38 crore.

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

Benchmark indices, SENSEX and NIFTY50, closed in the green for the second day in a row on Friday, December 12. The SENSEX soared 449.53 points or 0.53% to close at 85,267.66. The 50-share NIFTY ended 148.40 points or 0.57% higher at 26,046.95.

The 50-share NIFTY index was bolstered by gains in Tata Steel, which closed 3.38% higher. It was followed by Hindalco Industries (3.26%), Eternal (2.37%), UltraTech Cement (2.25%) and Larsen & Toubro (1.72%), which were among the top winners.

On the other hand, the top losers included Hindustan Unilever (-1.80%), Max Healthcare Institute (-0.73%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (-0.72%), ITC (-0.55%), and Asian Paints (-0.52%).