Key Points

The sharp fall came amid a broader weakness in equities, which saw six of India's top-10 most valued companies suffer a combined erosion of Rs 2.22 lakh crore.

The market slump occurred during a week when the benchmark Sensex slipped by 294.64 points or 0.36 per cent -- marking the fourth straight week of decline for domestic equities.

Other major companies that recorded losses in market valuation included Reliance Industries, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Hindustan Unilever, and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

Reliance Industries took the biggest hit, with its market value plunging by Rs 1.14 lakh crore to Rs 18.83 lakh crore.

Infosys saw an erosion of Rs 29,474 crore, while LIC's valuation dipped by Rs 23,086 crore.

TCS and Hindustan Unilever also posted significant declines of over Rs 20,000 crore and Rs 17,339 crore, respectively.

Ajit Mishra, Senior Vice President of Research at Religare Broking, said that the markets remained under pressure due to mixed signals.

"Initially, earnings from the banking sector lifted sentiment, especially with strong results from HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank. But the decline in heavyweight stocks like Reliance capped any meaningful recovery," he explained.

He added that foreign fund outflows and uncertainty over global trade deals ahead of the August 1 deadline contributed to high volatility in the markets.

On the positive side, HDFC Bank led the gainers with an increase of Rs 37,161 crore in its market value, taking its valuation to Rs 15.38 lakh crore.

ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, and State Bank of India also registered gains in their market caps.

The most valued Indian companies included HDFC Bank, TCS, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, SBI, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever, and LIC.

- IANS