Indian IT stocks slide up to 9% on weak global cues

What triggered the sudden selloff in IT shares

Indian IT stocks saw sharp, broad-based declines after global cues turned negative and fresh company commentary raised questions on near-term demand. A key trigger cited was Accenture trimming the upper end of its full-year revenue growth forecast and issuing a weaker-than-expected outlook. That shift in guidance amplified concerns that global tech spending is slowing, especially for discretionary projects. The selling pressure quickly spread across Indian large caps and mid caps, with several counters falling between 4% and 9% in early moves.

The scale of the move was visible in headline market-cap erosion. The top 10 Indian IT companies were reported to have wiped out more than ₹1.6 lakh crore in market value within minutes of the fall. The drop was not limited to a few stocks, as all Nifty IT constituents traded in the red during the session described.

Market snapshot: Nifty IT underperformed the Nifty 50

The sectoral damage was sharper than the broader market. Nifty IT was reported to have tanked 6.5% versus a 1% fall in the benchmark Nifty 50 during the Accenture-linked selloff. In another session highlighted, the Nifty IT index fell 2.7% to an intra-day low of 27,519.15, while the Nifty 50 declined around 0.5%. The repeated underperformance underlined how sensitive the sector was to global risk-off moves and demand commentary.

All Nifty IT constituents being in the red was a recurring theme across the updates. Infosys was flagged as a top dragger in one of the declines, down 7.5%, followed by stocks such as Mphasis, Tech Mahindra, Persistent Systems and TCS, all declining over 6% each. HCL Tech, Coforge and LTIM were also noted to have shed over 5% each in that phase.

Company-wise damage: TCS, Infosys, HCLTech and peers

The biggest index names led the fall and contributed heavily to market-cap erosion. TCS dropped more than 6.5% in the referenced Friday session, and its market capitalisation fell more than ₹52,000 crore, slipping below the ₹7.5 lakh crore mark. Infosys was described as being at the top in terms of the fall, slipping 8.6% to ₹1,030.35 for the day, and losing nearly ₹40,000 crore in market value.

HCL Technologies lost 6% and nearly ₹19,000 crore of market capitalisation in early trade. Mid-tier and other large IT names were also hit. Persistent Systems (down 6.75%), Tech Mahindra (down 7.02%) and Wipro (down 4.3%) were reported to have seen market-cap declines of ₹14,750 crore, ₹10,000 crore and ₹8,230 crore, respectively.

Global spillover: ADRs and overseas peers also fell

The negative sentiment was not confined to India and was linked to global technology stocks. On the New York Stock Exchange, the ADRs of Infosys and Wipro fell as much as 10% on Thursday after Accenture’s revised guidance, according to the update cited. Other global tech names were also under pressure: Cognizant lost over 10%, IBM declined over 5%, and Capgemini ended the session down 8.9%.

In a later risk-off wave connected to AI disruption worries, IBM was reported to have crashed 13%, its worst single-day fall in 13 years. That global weakness reinforced the selling bias in Indian IT, where investors were already tracking cautious commentary and demand visibility concerns.

A second trigger: inflation and rate worries hit tech valuations

Another session described the Nifty IT index dropping 2.7% amid global tech selloffs, with inflation concerns and rising interest rates cited as the backdrop. In that move, HCL Technologies led the decline among large caps, falling 3.5% and becoming the biggest loser on the Nifty IT index. Infosys and LTIM were also under pressure, down around 3% each.

Mid-tier names were not spared in that spell, with Mphasis and Persistent Systems dropping more than 2% each. TCS, Coforge and Tech Mahindra declined over 1.5%, while Wipro and L&T Technology Services lost around 1% during the session. The pattern showed that even when the broader market was relatively steadier, IT stocks remained highly reactive to macro signals.

HCLTech’s Q4FY26 and FY27 guidance: numbers that spooked the market

A sharper single-day move was linked to HCL Technologies’ March-quarter results and management commentary. IT stocks fell sharply on Wednesday, 22 April, after HCLTech’s Q4 update and a cautious outlook triggered renewed worries about demand. HCLTech shares plunged as much as 9.7%, described as its worst session in eleven years, while the Nifty IT index fell 3.35% to 30,665.35.

The figures cited were weaker than expectations. HCLTech’s Q4 FY26 revenue was reported at $1,682 million, down 3.3% quarter-on-quarter in constant currency, compared with consensus expectations of -1.6%. Margin came in at 16.5%, down 200 basis points quarter-on-quarter, against estimates of 17.5%. Total contract value (TCV) was reported at $1,900 million, a 35% year-on-year decline.

The company’s FY27 services revenue growth guidance was cited at 1.5% to 4.5% in constant currency, and another update referenced guidance of 1% to 4% in constant currency, below analyst expectations of around 3% to 5%. Management commentary pointed to softer discretionary spending, delayed project decisions, and two client-specific ramp-downs. CEO C Vijayakumar also attributed weak performance in Q3 to lacklustre discretionary spending, according to the cited note.

AI disruption fears: COBOL modernisation headlines add to volatility

Beyond near-term demand, AI-led disruption fears added another layer of uncertainty. A market reaction was described after Anthropic highlighted the potential of its Claude Code tool to modernise legacy systems built on COBOL, which raised concerns for parts of the outsourcing model. In that episode, Infosys slipped over 3%, while HCL Technologies, Mphasis and Persistent Systems fell more than 2% each. The Nifty IT index was reported at 30,380.55, down 1,169.95 points or 3.71% at 11 am.

The sector also saw a three-day stretch of declines driven by an overnight selloff in US tech and persistent AI disruption concerns. The Nifty IT index hit an intraday low of 31,422.60, its lowest level since October 2023, and was reported to have shed 12% in just three days (considering that day’s low). In that phase, Infosys fell 7.5%, TCS was down 6%, HCL Technologies dropped 5.5%, and Wipro and Tech Mahindra lost nearly 4.5% each.

Key numbers at a glance

Why investors reacted so sharply

The selling pressure reflected a mix of near-term and structural concerns that surfaced almost simultaneously. Accenture’s trimmed outlook was read as a demand signal for the broader global services market, which matters because Indian IT companies earn a large share of revenue from the US and Europe. HCLTech’s quarterly miss versus expectations and its lower growth guidance added company-specific pressure at a time when investors were already cautious.

At the same time, macro uncertainty and global tech drawdowns kept risk appetite low, and ADR declines in Infosys and Wipro added to negative cues for Indian trading hours. AI-related headlines, including automation narratives around legacy modernisation, intensified the debate about how quickly parts of the labour-intensive model could face pricing or volume pressure. The combined effect was visible in index-level underperformance, steep single-stock declines, and rapid market-cap erosion.

Conclusion

Indian IT stocks saw a sharp reset across multiple sessions as muted global guidance, weak quarterly commentary, macro worries, and AI disruption fears hit sentiment together. The immediate focus remains on management commentary and demand visibility, especially in overseas markets such as the US and Europe, alongside upcoming results and guidance updates from sector heavyweights.