NSE/BSE STOCK MARKET TIPS

Top 10 cos lose Rs 94kcr in a week; SBI defies trend
19 Oct, 2008.

MUMBAI: With stock markets continuing their downslide, the country's elite club of most valued firms lost over Rs 94,000 crore in a week, though S
BI defied the trend and added nearly Rs 4,000 crore to its market capitalisation.

The combined market capitalisation of the country's top 10 firms saw an erosion of Rs 94,448 crore in the past week, dropping to Rs 10,44,245 crore at the end of trading on Friday last week from the previous week's Rs 11,38,734 crore.

Country's largest lender State Bank of India defied trend in the falling market and gained Rs 3,923 crore to Rs 89,768 crore. Last week witnessed banking stocks mostly trading in the negative territory, while SBI outperformed its peers and managed to increase its market capitalisation.

Analysts believe SBI's strong fundamentals support the better performance of its shares amid the bearish market conditions.

However, country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank, which slipped from the top-20 club last week and lost its position to the HDFC Bank, has regained its position.

While ICICI Bank's market capitalisation rose to Rs 43,606 crore last week from Rs 40,532 crore previously, HDFC Bank's valuation took a marginal dip to Rs 43,533.39 crore.

Country's most valued firm Reliance Industries suffered the highest fall in its market capitalisation of Rs 34,898 crore during the past week. However, the Mukesh Ambani-led firm retained its numero-uno position with a valuation of Rs 2,05,418 crore last week.