SENSEX plunges over 700 points, NIFTY50 below 25,600; IT index crashes 12% in three sessions; here is why

The Indian equity benchmarks nosedived on Friday, February 13, mirroring a rout in global equity markets as worries about shrinking margins in the tech sector and AI led disruptions dented investor sentiment.

The SENSEX fell as much as 828 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 25,558 dragged down by losses in information technology heavyweights like Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Wipo, Hindalco and Hindustan Unilever.

As of 9:44 am, the SENSEX was down 776 points at 82,898 and NIFTY50 index dropped 249 points to 25,558.

Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.7%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.83%, China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.4% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 1.35%.

Overnight, US markets witnessed a heavy selloff across the board on Thursday after investor scepticism grew over AI stocks. The Dow Jones fell 1.3% to close below 50,000, and the S&P500 plunged 1.5%. While the NASDAQ closed 2% lower, falling the most.

Concerns were raised about the impact of AI on the margins of financial, transportation, and logistics companies, and even on commercial real estate companies, generating massive selling pressure on the stocks.

Back home, selling pressure in Infosys, TCS, HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra collectively wiped out over 400 points from the SENSEX, data from BSE showed.

IT shares were facing intense selling pressure for a third straight session. The measure of IT stocks on the NSE has crashed a whopping 12% in the last three trading sessions.

In intraday deals on Friday, the IT index declined as much as 5.24% to hit an intraday low of 31,423. All the 10 stocks in the index were trading lower led by Infosys' nearly 6% fall. Coforge, TCS, Oracle Financial Services Software, HCL Technologies and Wipro also fell between 3.5%-5.3%.

The stocks are facing selling pressure as AI-led disruptions in the IT space have raised concerns about the future of traditional IT companies across the world.

All the 15 major sector gauges compiled by the NSE were trading lower. NIFTY Auto, FMCG, Metal, PSU Bank, Pharma, Realty, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas indices also fell between 0.5%-2.5%.

Broader markets were also facing the heat of selling pressure as NIFTY Midcap 100 index dropped 1.27% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index plunged 1.53%.

Hindalco was among the top losers in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell over 5% to ₹910 after it reported a consolidated net profit of ₹2,049 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2025 (Q3 FY26), down 45% YoY from the ₹3,735 crore profit logged in the year-ago period.

The company attributed the drop in profit to Oswego disruption due to fires.

The Novelis aluminium plant in Oswego, New York, experienced two significant fires in the hot mill area on September 16, 2025, and November 21, 2025.

Novelis Inc. is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hindalco Industries.

On February 11, Novelis shared an update on the fire incidents.

Infosys, HCL Tech, TCS, Wipro, ONGC, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Adani Enterprises and Eternal also fell between 2.2%-6.2%.

On the flipside, SBI Life, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Life and HDFC Bank were among the notable gainers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 2,330 shares were falling while 382 were advancing on the NSE.