Overview
- The Nifty IT index fell as much as about 5% on Friday after a steep slide a day earlier, leaving the week’s drop near 8% and the three‑day decline roughly 12%.
- Benchmark indices weakened with the Sensex down 700–900 points intraday and the Nifty slipping below 25,600 before a partial recovery.
- TCS hit a 52‑week low, while Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro and Tech Mahindra dropped around 5–6% at the lows; mid‑tier names such as Coforge, LTIMindtree and Persistent also fell sharply.
- Analysts cited renewed worries that Anthropic’s recent automation‑focused launch could replace multi‑step enterprise workflows, compounded by a stronger‑than‑expected 130,000 rise in U.S. payrolls that dimmed hopes of early Fed cuts.
- The sell‑off erased substantial value, with about Rs 3.1 lakh crore wiped from the top five IT firms this week and roughly $50 billion from Indian IT stocks so far in February.