Several Nifty IT constituents touched fresh 52-week lows in Tuesday’s morning session, extending a bruising run for the sector amid mounting concerns over the impact of generative AI on Indian technology services revenues.
Coforge fell to ₹1,008.10, Wipro to ₹188.25, Oracle Financial Services Software to ₹6,234.50, Infosys to ₹1,215.10, TCS to ₹2,360.00, HCL Technologies to ₹1,297.70, and Mphasis to ₹2,030.50 — all registering intraday 52-week lows by around noon.
The Nifty IT index was trading down approximately 1.06 per cent at 28,735, having shed over 24 per cent year-to-date and nearly 21 per cent over the past year.
The sector’s underperformance stands out sharply against the broader market. According to Motilal Oswal Mutual Fund’s February market snapshot, IT was the worst-performing sector in February, declining 19.54 per cent — the only major sector deeply in negative territory on a one-year basis at nearly -18 per cent.
In contrast, Consumer Durables, Auto, and Energy posted monthly gains of 9.30 per cent, 5.27 per cent, and 5.43 per cent respectively, while the Nifty Midcap 150 gained 1.66 per cent and delivered 23.08 per cent on a one-year basis.
The broader market context offers some cushion. In February, Nifty Next 50 rose 2.76 per cent and closed the year with a 22.16 per cent gain. FIIs recorded net inflows of ₹37,804 crore including ₹22,615 crore into equities, suggesting renewed macro confidence even as IT bears the brunt of sector rotation.
Against this backdrop, Nuvama last week pushed back against the bearish consensus, calling the current moment a “déjà vu” for the sector and arguing it would emerge from AI disruption with a net increase in its total addressable market. It upgraded HCL Tech, Wipro, TechM, and Hexaware to ‘Buy’, taking its buy rating to all top-ten IT services stocks.
On the fund flow side, JM Financial’s February mutual fund tracker showed domestic MFs were net buyers in IT services at ₹127.4 billion during the month, with Infosys, HCL, Coforge, and TCS among the top purchases — suggesting institutional conviction even as prices slide. The Nifty IT index’s 52-week high stands at ₹40,301, now more than 28 per cent above current levels.