Fall bleeds index scrips the most

A hammering of stocks by bears has resulted in a host of index stocks declining in the range of 30 to 50 per cent from their peak, much higher than bellwether Sensex's 23 per cent fall this year.

Reliance Energy, Unitech, DLF, Suzlon Energy, Tata Communication and Reliance Petroleum have shed over 40 per cent in the past couple of months, making them the worst affected stocks in this year's crash.

The worst among the lot is Reliance Energy, which fell 51.74 from its peak of Rs 2,631.70 in January to close at Rs 1,270 last Friday.

Market experts are of the view that this stock also seems to have suffered due to a severe fall in the stock price of Reliance Power as Reliance Energy holds a 45 per cent stake in Reliance Power.

Reliance Power, which was listed on bourses on February 11, fell by nearly 50 per cent from its peak. It was last quoted at Rs 338.20, after losing another 10 per cent on Friday.

"Reliance Energy had a spectacular run-up from around Rs 500 to Rs 2,500 within a span of a few months, which resulted in a build-up of huge speculative positions in the derivatives segment. Besides, Reliance Energy is modelled such that the company is dependent on the ability of the management to raise funds at regular intervals," said S Krishna Kumar, a fund manager at Sundaram BNP Paribas.

However, analysts are of the view that investors' confidence in the Anil Ambani Group seems to have shaken after the debacle of the initial public offer of Reliance Power.

Investors' confidence in the Reliance Group was also affected by a sharp fall in Reliance Petroleum, following the open market share sale by promoters of the company and their failure to report the same to stock exchanges on time.