Top 10 firms' share in turnover slips to 50.6%

The share of the top 10 companies in the total combined turnover on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has declined from 54.1 per cent in the first-half of calendar 2003 to 50.6 per cent in the first-half of calendar 2004.

This is despite the 99.7 per cent rise in the total turnover from Rs 4,64,274 crore in January-June 2003 to Rs 9,27,343 crore in the first-half of 2004.

This indicates that the increased turnover was not concentrated in the frontline stocks but was widely spread among mid-cap and small-cap stocks.

The top 10 firms saw an average daily turnover of Rs 3,780 crore in the first-half of 2004, smartly higher than the average daily turnover of Rs 2,025 crore in the first-half of the previous year.

The Reliance Industries counter emerged as the topper with its turnover increasing 224.6 per cent to Rs 69,220 crore. It was at number five in the corresponding period of last year with a turnover of Rs 21,326 crore.

Reliance replaced last year's topper Infosys Technologies, which has now slipped to the 7th position.

During the period, turnover on the Infosys counter declined from Rs 54,570 crore to Rs 44,288 crore.

Tata Steel reported a 694 per cent rise in turnover to Rs 63,453 crore (up 694.4 per cent), which placed it securely in the second spot this year as against the 15th rank last year.

The Satyam Computer Services counter moved down one notch from the 2nd position to the 3rd slot as its turnover rose by a mere 25.2 per cent from Rs 47,698 crore to Rs 59,732 crore.

State Bank of India (SBI) jumped up to the 4th place this year from last year's 6th rank as its turnover rose 270 per cent to Rs 56,548 crore.

Besides Tata Steel, five other firms found place in the top 10 list. These include Maruti Udyog at number five, Tata Motors at the sixth spot, ONGC at the 8th spot, GAIL India at 9 and Tata Power at 10.

As a result of changing investor preferences, Digital GlobalSoft, Mastek, Wipro, Hexaware Technologies, HPCL and Canara Bank have moved out of the top 10 list this year.

The turnover on the ONGC, GAIL and Tata Power counters recorded tremendous growth. While ONGC's turnover increased 1,545 per cent (Rs 34,031 crore), GAIL reported a 1,594 per cent growth (Rs 25,633 crore) and Tata Power up 1,780 per cent (Rs 17,328 crore).