The market capitalization of eight out of India’s ten largest companies declined by ₹1.66 lakh crore in the past week's trading. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country’s second most valuable company, suffered the biggest loss, with its market cap falling by ₹53,186 crore to ₹13.70 lakh crore. Other companies that saw a decline in market value included Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Infosys, ITC, HDFC Bank, and the State Bank of India (SBI). Reliance Industries and Bajaj Finance gain Meanwhile, Reliance Industries, the country’s most valuable company, recorded a market cap increase of ₹14,547 crore, reaching ₹16.61 lakh crore. Bajaj Finance, which recently entered the top 10, gained ₹384 crore, bringing its total market value to ₹5.20 lakh crore. Sensex and Nifty witness declines On Friday (February 21), the last trading session of the week, the Sensex closed at 75,311 after falling 424 points, while the Nifty dropped 117 points to 22,795. Throughout the week, the Sensex declined by a total of 628 points, and the Nifty fell by 133 points. Among the sectoral indices, the auto sector suffered the steepest drop at 2.58%. Understanding Market Capitalization Market capitalization (market cap) is the total value of a company’s outstanding shares, calculated as: Market Cap = (Number of Outstanding Shares) x (Share Price) It helps investors categorize companies as large-cap, mid-cap, or small-cap based on their size and perceived stability. A higher market cap generally indicates a more established company. Factors influencing Market Cap changes Market capitalization fluctuates based on stock price movements. If a company’s share price rises, its market cap increases, and if the share price declines, its market cap falls. Demand and supply dynamics in the stock market largely drive these changes.