Markets opened sharply lower on Friday, with the Sensex falling 790.71 points to 82,884.21 and Nifty declining 254.95 points to 25,552.25, tracking a global tech sell-off driven by mounting concerns over artificial intelligence disruption to traditional business models.
The Nifty IT index bore the brunt of the sell-off, plummeting 4.72 per cent to 31,594.70 in early trade. Infosys led the losers, crashing 6.11 per cent to ₹1,301.30, followed by TCS down 4.59 per cent at ₹2,624.00, HCL Technologies declining 4.38 per cent to ₹1,411.50, and Wipro falling 3.55 per cent to ₹211.31. The sector witnessed its sharpest single-day decline in ten months.
“The sell off in AI stocks in US markets was expected but the timing and extent of the sell-off was not known,” said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited. “What is rattling the Indian market now is the massive sell-off in IT stocks, which is the second largest profit pool of India Inc.”
The sell-off followed a sharp decline in US technology stocks, with the Nasdaq tumbling 2.03 per cent overnight as investors reassessed the impact of AI startups on established tech companies. “Wall Street indexes fell sharply on Thursday, with the technology-heavy Nasdaq slumping 2%, as investors intensified their selloff of tech shares,” noted Devarsh Vakil, Head of Prime Research at HDFC Securities.
The Sensex, which closed at 83,674.92 in the previous session, opened at 82,902.73, while Nifty opened at 25,571.15 against its previous close of 25,807.20. Nearly ₹2.80 lakh crore in market capitalization was erased in the previous session.
“Indian equity markets are expected to open on a mildly negative note, tracking continued weakness in global equities after a sharp sell-off in technology stocks,” said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money. “Growing concerns over AI-led disruption and fading optimism around near-term global rate cuts—following strong US jobs data—are likely to weigh on sentiment.”
Among other IT stocks, Coforge declined 6.00 per cent, Oracle Financial Services Software fell 4.51 per cent to ₹6,459.00, LTIMindtree dropped 3.64 per cent to ₹5,022.00, Persistent Systems lost 3.34 per cent to ₹5,270.00, Mphasis declined 3.17 per cent to ₹2,385.80, and Tech Mahindra fell 3.14 per cent to ₹1,488.40.
The broader market showed mixed signals, with select financial stocks witnessing buying interest. Bajaj Finance emerged as the top gainer, rising 0.52 per cent to ₹1,004.30, followed by SBI Life Insurance up 0.51 per cent at ₹2,032.40, Apollo Hospitals gaining 0.29 per cent to ₹7,561.00, State Bank of India advancing 0.28 per cent to ₹1,195.70, and HDFC Bank edging up 0.21 per cent. to ₹922.50.
“Panic selling in IT stocks at this stage may not be a good idea. Investors may wait and watch for the dust to settle,” advised Dr. Vijayakumar. “The market turbulence can be used to accumulate high quality growth stocks, particularly those that have come out with good Q3 results.”
Beyond IT, Hindalco witnessed significant selling pressure, declining 5.78 per cent to ₹908.70. The metal stock was among the notable losers alongside technology companies.
“The 50-day SMA at 25,750/83500 would act as a key support zone for traders,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research at Kotak Securities. “If the market manages to trade above this level, it could bounce back to 25,900-25,950/84000-84200.”
Foreign Institutional Investors continued their buying streak, purchasing equities worth ₹108 crore on February 12, while Domestic Institutional Investors invested over ₹276 crore, providing some cushion to the markets.
Published on February 13, 2026