ITC becomes top-weighted stock in Sensex

RIL is in second spot

FMCG major ITC today surpassed Reliance Industries to claim the most influential stock status on the BSE benchmark index Sensex today, pushing the energy giant to the second spot.

Earlier in the week ITC had dethroned Reliance Industries (RIL) from the top position but its status proved to be short-lived when it slipped to the second position soon after.

However, at the end of trade today, ITC commanded 9.11% weightage, while RIL had 9.10% weight followed by Infosys with 7.99% weight on the BSE benchmark index Sensex.

Shares of ITC settled 1.12% higher, while RIL was down 1.01% at close today.

In the past few days, a veritable game of musical chairs has been played out between RIL, ITC and Infosys for the top position on the bourses.

ITC regained the top slot in terms of Sensex weightage, which is measured by the value of a company's free-float or non-promoter shares that can be freely traded in the market.

Infosys slipped to the third place in the list after the company's shares crashed 13% on last Friday when the company gave a muted revenue guidance for FY2012-13.

Measured in terms of its weightage on the key indices of Indian stock market (Sensex as well as Nifty), Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) had been consistently enjoying its position as the most influential stock for many years till early December, 2011.

RIL however, remains bigger in terms of the overall market value, including the value of promoter shares.

The total market value of RIL stood at Rs 2,42,889 crore as on today, while ITC commanded an m-cap of Rs 1,91,121 crore.

RIL is the country's most valued firm, followed by ONGC, Coal India, TCS and ITC in that order.