₹3 lakh crore wiped out in tech rout; Sensex, Nifty fall nearly 1%, IT Index slides 8%

The equity benchmark indices ended largely in the red this week, with the Sensex and Nifty falling nearly 1% each amid a sharp sell-off in information technology stocks.

The IT index declined 8% during the week, marking its biggest weekly fall in a year. The sector-wide correction erased nearly ₹3 lakh crore in market capitalisation over the five trading sessions.

Five of the top six losers on the Nifty were IT names, including Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and Tech Mahindra. In contrast, defence and PSU bank stocks outperformed during the week, climbing nearly 4% each. Among the top gainers on the Nifty were Eicher Motors, State Bank of India, Shriram Finance, Apollo Hospitals and Bajaj Finserv.

On the midcap front, top losers included Coforge, KPIT Technologies, Oracle Financial Services Software, Oil India and LTIMindtree. Midcap gainers during the week included Bharat Forge, Kalyan Jewellers, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Poonawalla Fincorp and Astral.

On Friday (February 13), benchmark indices ended lower for the second straight session, closing at the day’s low amid broad-based selling. The Nifty slipped below the 25,500 mark, with significant weakness seen in technology stocks, while overall market breadth remained firmly tilted in favour of declines. The NSE advance-decline ratio stood at 1:4.

The Sensex fell 1,048 points to close at 82,627, while the Nifty declined 336 points to settle at 25,471. The Nifty Bank dropped 553 points to 60,187, and the Midcap index underperformed, falling 1,033 points to 59,438.

Forty-four Nifty stocks ended in the red. Among the top losers were Hindalco Industries, Hindustan Unilever, Eternal, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Adani Enterprises. All sectoral indices closed in the red, with metal and capital market stocks leading the losses.

From the Sensex basket, Bajaj Finance Ltd, Eicher Motors Ltd, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd were the major gainers. Hindalco Industries Ltd, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Adani Enterprises Ltd, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, Tata Steel Ltd and Coal India Ltd were the biggest laggards.

The Nifty IT index recovered over 4% from intra-day lows, and Persistent Systems managed to close in the green. Among individual stocks, Alkem Laboratories dropped nearly 8% after its Q3 India business grew 5.5%, missing its H2FY26 double-digit target. Hindalco Industries fell nearly 6% after its Q3 results missed estimates.

Transrail Lighting rose over 2% after the company bagged an order worth ₹2,350 crore. Bajaj Finance extended the previous session’s gains, rising nearly 3%. Engineers India surged over 11% after its Q3 profit jumped more than three-fold.

Muthoot Finance emerged as the top midcap loser, seeing profit booking despite raising AUM guidance. PI Industries dropped nearly 2% after posting results below estimates.