However, Infosys toppled RIL as the most influential stock in Sensex that comprises 30 of India’s biggest bluechip companies by gaining the highest weightage of 10.91 per cent, which gives it the biggest say in the movement of the most keenly followed market index.

In contrast, RIL’s weightage dropped to 10.85 per cent on the Sensex, making it the second most-weighted stock on the Sensex as against its earlier leading position.

The market capitalisation of Reliance — which was number two in market cap ranking for the last four years — has gone up by nearly 530 per cent from Rs 25,496 crore on October 14, 2002. The Ambani firm was in the fourth spot then behind ONGC, Hindustan Lever and Wipro.

Meanwhile, falling crude oil prices boosted the market morale. With oil refiners leading the rally, the benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex shot up by 184 points to 12,537.98 points, its strongest close since May 11 when it forged a high of 12,671.11 before shedding 30 per cent in the month that followed.

Yesterday, Infosys had replaced state-run power major NTPC as the country’s third largest corporate entity in terms of market capitalisation after Reliance Industries and ONGC. Infosys today maintained its position as the third most valued company with a market capitalisation of Rs 1.12 lakh crore.

ONGC’s share price today posted a modest gain of about 0.4 per cent. However, the company has lost more than 4 per cent in its market value over the past ten trading sessions. Power equipment maker NTPC stood at the fourth position with a market capitalisation of Rs 1.07 lakh crore after a modest gain of 0.4 per cent in its share price, followed closely by the Tata company TCS at fifth position at Rs 1.06 lakh crore.

“ONGC has been witnessing a steady decline on account of a fall in the global crude prices in the recent past. On the other hand, investors are expecting strong quarterly numbers from RIL and so are increasing their exposure in India’s largest private sector entity,” an analyst froma leading domestic brokerage firm said.