Holy smoke: ITC pips Infy, HDFC Bank to become third most-valued firm

NEW DELHI: A 10 per cent surge in ITC shares on Tuesday helped the FMCG major climb two ladders up to become the third most-valued company on the Bombay Stock Exchange ( BSE). At close, ITC's market capitalisation (m-cap) stood at Rs 2,61,403.46 crore, which was higher than HDFC Bank's Rs 2,48,946.98 crore and Infosys' Rs 2,58,291.43 crore.

"Every single Budget, people usually have two trades i.e. they go short on ITC and long on HDFC Bank and, typically, post Budget the trades reverse. I do not think there was anything different this year," said Manish Chokhani, Director, Enam Holdings.

ITC shares surged 9.91 per cent to settle at Rs 325.10 for the day. TCS, meanwhile, remained the numero uno, with a market valuation of Rs 4,48,272.36 crore followed by Reliance Industries, whose m-cap stood at Rs 3,18,213.86 crore at the end of Tuesday.

The combined market capitalisation of five most-valued BSE-listed companies stood at Rs 15,35,128 crore. That alone accounts for 17.37 per cent of BSE's total market capitalisation of 88,34,888 crore.