Stock Market News: The week (March 16 to 20) was a highly volatile for stock markets due to escalating tensions in the Middle East, involving the United States, Israel and Iran. Markets ended the week on a largely flat note with a negative bias. The Nifty declined 36.6 points or 0.16 per cent, to close at 23,114.50, while the Sensex edged lower by 30.96 points or 0.04 per cent to settle at 74,532.96.

During the week, the combined market capitalisation of five of the top 10 most-valued listed companies declined by Rs 1 lakh crore.

HDFC Bank Worst Hit 

HDFC Bank, the country's largest private lender, took the biggest hit. After HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Bajaj Finance and Hindustan Unilever were the other biggest laggards.

The combined market valuation of the five firms eroded by Rs 1,02,771.87 crore, according to exchange data.

HDFC Bank's market cap tumbled Rs 56,124.48 crore to Rs 12,01,267.28 crore. 

The market cap of Hindustan Unilever dropped Rs 18,009.62 crore to Rs 4,89,631.32 crore. 

Bajaj Finance lost Rs 15,338.42 crore to Rs 5,16,715.12 crore. Likewise, the market cap of TCS declined by Rs 7,127.63 crore to Rs 8,64,940 crore and that of ICICI Bank edged lower by Rs 6,171.72 crore to Rs 8,91,673.06 crore.

RIL, Airtel Top Gainers 

However, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, Infosys, and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) emerged as the winners.

The market cap of Reliance Industries jumped Rs 45,942.75 crore to Rs 19,14,235.92 crore.

The mcap of Bharti Airtel surged Rs 24,462.03 crore to Rs 10,52,893.75 crore and that of State Bank of India climbed Rs 10,707.52 crore to Rs 9,76,968.57 crore.

The market capitalisation of LIC edged higher by Rs 2,624.88 crore to Rs 4,91,610.45 crore and Infosys added Rs 2,473.79 crore, taking its mcap to Rs 5,08,789.37 crore.