Wipro, the numero uno in terms of market capitalisation, maintained the number one rank during period. Though it hung on to its number one position, its market cap, however, declined by Rs 1,225 crore. Another infotech stock, Infosys Technologies, was at second place Rs 4,870 crore being shaved off from its market cap. On the other hand, Reliance Petro improved its rank from 9th to 5th during the three-month period, according to a study conducted by the FE Research Bureau. The company's value, as measured by the stockmarket, increased by Rs 16,084 crore over the study period.

Among the worst hit in terms of market capitalisation declines as at September 25, 2000 were the stocks in the infotech sector. MTNL lost a whopping Rs 6,114 crore from its market cap, a decline of 45.23 per cent over its June 30, 2000, level of Rs 13,517 crore. Aptech lost ground by 42.37 per cent during the same time period. Digital Equipment, declining on a larger base, lost Rs 786 crore from its market cap during the study period. Not only did IT stocks show significant declines, some other companies like Sterlite Industries, Escorts etc also showed a marked bearish trend. Consider Sterlite Industries, which declined by 67.76 per cent, or Escorts, which lost by 38.34 per cent.

Conversely, some of the biggest increases in market capitalisation were seen in the case of Reliance Petro (119.96 per cent), Gujarat Gas(59.43 per cent), GE Shipping (51.29 per cent), Nestle India (34.47 per cent), EIH (54.66 per cent), Reckitt&Colman (49.78 per cent) and Esab (33.82 per cent).

In all, 139 A group shares were considered for the analysis. The share prices have been computed from the official price lists of the Bombay Stock Exchange. Closing prices on June 30 and September 25, 2000 have been considered for the study.

The top five in terms of market capitalisation in descending order as at September 25, 2000 are Wipro (Rs 65,229 crore), Infosys (Rs 50,151 crore), Hindustan Lever (Rs 47,159 crore), Reliance Industries (Rs 36,184 crore) and Reliance Petro (Rs 29,491 crore).

The top five in market capitalisation in descending order on June 30 2000 were Wipro (Rs 66,454 crore), Hindustan Lever (Rs 62,278 crore), Infosys Technology (Rs 55,021 crore), Reliance Industries (Rs 31,840 crore) and ITC (Rs 19,502 crore). Only Wipro, Infosys Technology, Hindustan Lever and Reliance Industries were in the list of top five during both the time periods.

Of the top five companies as at September 25, the highest rate of growth in market capitalisation was recorded in the case of Reliance Petro (119.96 per cent) and the highest decline was noticed in the case of Hindustan Lever (-24.28 per cent).

The bottom five, in ascending order, in terms of market capitalisation in September 25, 2000 are Atlas Copco (Rs 71 crore), Esab (Rs 78 crore), Amara Raja Batteries (Rs 86 crore), Kesoram Industries (Rs 88 crore) and Sesa Goa (Rs 89 crore).

On the other hand, the bottom five companies according to market capitalisation, on June 30, 2000 were Esab (Rs 58 crore), Amara Raja Batteries (Rs 74 crore), Atlas Copco (Rs 76 crore), Trent (Rs 100 crore) and Sesa Goa (Rs 107 crore).

Industry-wise market capitalisation indicates that infotech companies rank number one with a market capitalisation of Rs 1,38,689 crore (27.8 per cent share of the total) on September 25, 2000, though the market capitalisation of this sector declined by 7.56 per cent to Rs 1,38,689 crore by September 2000 from the level of Rs 1,50,039 crore in June,2000.

Prominent among other industries ranked in descending order as on September 25,2000 are other hemicals (Rs 87,504 crore), others (Rs 68,512 crore), diversified (Rs 39,222 crore), pharma (Rs 32,283 crore) and PSU (Rs 31,823 crore).

Significant fall in market capitalisation during the study period was noticed in the case of engineering (-33.19 per cent) followed by tyres&tubes (-26.98 per cent), PSU (-23.96 per cent) and cement (-15.75 per cent).

A reverse trend can be seen in the case of hotels (27.22 per cent), food products (17.98 per cent) and diversified (9.88 per cent). At the aggregate level,the ratio of market capitalisation to equity capital declined by 19.4 per cent from 2508.96 per cent in June to 2022.23 per cent in September.

Significant negative changes in the ratio can be seen in the case of other chemicals (-47.63 per cent), engineering (-33.89 per cent), tyres&tubes (-26.98 per cent), PSU (-23.96 per cent) and auto (-19.39 per cent).