Here are four reasons why D-street is rattled by plunge in IT stocks

It's nightmare on Dalal Street today! 

Investors are spooked on Friday, February 13, as both Sensex and Nifty opened in the red, led by the IT stocks falling steeply. 

At the time of reporting, Sensex stood at 82,945.70, down by 729.22 points or 0.87%, and the Nifty50 fell by 234.45 points or 0.91% to 25,572.75. 

Meanwhile, today was a negative start for the Nifty IT index. The IT index has fallen about 10.5% over the past two trading sessions and was down 5.24% at 31,422.60 during today's intraday trade. The index has declined nearly 12% in the past three trading sessions and has dropped around 19% in eight trading days since February 3, 2026, when it stood at 38,611.75.

Among individual stocks, Infosys was one of the worst performers. The stock fell nearly 8% to ₹1,281.50 during Friday’s intraday trade, touching its 52-week low. Exactly a year ago, the stock had hit a 52-week high of ₹1,894.60. Over the past two trading sessions, Infosys has declined about 13%.

Other frontline IT companies also witnessed heavy selling. Shares of Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Technologies, Coforge, Tech Mahindra and Wipro fell between 5% and 6% during the session. Over the last two trading days, these stocks have declined between 9% and 11%.

Stocks including Infosys, TCS, Cyient, Hexaware Technologies, L&T Technology Services, Mastek, Oracle Financial Services Software, Tata Technologies and Wipro touched their respective 52-week lows.

Here are four reasons why the Nifty IT stocks plummeted in the past three sessions: 

Global AI-led disruption fears weighed on outsourcing sentiment

Investor sentiment turned cautious after the rollout of advanced enterprise AI tools by Anthropic, which triggered fears of automation reducing demand for traditional IT services and software maintenance work. The development had already sparked a global sell-off in software and technology services stocks last week, with investors reassessing long-term growth and margin visibility for labour-intensive outsourcing companies, including Indian IT majors.

Sharp fall in Indian IT ADRs signalled overnight weakness

American Depository Receipts (ADRs)—which represent shares of Indian companies traded on U.S. exchanges and act as early sentiment indicators, registered steep declines. Infosys’ ADR dropped roughly 9–10% during the week, while Wipro’s ADR declined about 4–5%. 

Stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data raised rate concerns

U.S. labour market data showed non-farm payrolls increased by 130,000 in January, while unemployment stood at 4.3%. The resilient jobs market raised concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve may delay interest rate cuts. 

Weakness in major U.S. technology stocks dragged global sentiment

Leading U.S. technology and software companies also saw declines during the week. Shares of Palantir fell around 4–6% in key trading sessions, while Microsoft and Nvidia experienced volatility and declines alongside the broader Nasdaq index, which slipped roughly 2% in the overnight session. Since Indian IT companies derive a significant portion of revenue from U.S. clients, weakness in U.S. tech stocks weigh on Indian peers.