{"id":87484,"date":"2026-02-13T15:19:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T18:19:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/892135674"},"modified":"2026-02-13T15:19:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T18:19:40","slug":"pulse-of-the-street-tech-rout-muted-earnings-singe-indian-markets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/13\/pulse-of-the-street-tech-rout-muted-earnings-singe-indian-markets\/","title":{"rendered":"Pulse of the Street: Tech rout, muted earnings singe Indian markets"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
\n

India\u2019s benchmark indices tumbled on Friday as worldwide artificial intelligence angst continued to singe the stocks of software services providers. As a result, domestic markets ended lower this week, with mixed earnings commentary and profit-booking after last week\u2019s rally adding to the tech-driven selloff.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Nifty 50 and the BSE Sensex fell 1.3% each on Friday alone, as heavy selling in information technology (IT) heavyweights dragged the broader indices down. As a result, frontline indices slipped 0.9% over the week. The Nifty 50 now stands at 25,471.10 and the Sensex at 82,626.76.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The Nifty is down 3.25% from its all-time high hit on 2 January 2026, while the Sensex is still 3.73% from its peak scaled on 26 September 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Also Read<\/strong> | Why the markets began to party after sinking on budget day<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

Markets were bound to consolidate after last week\u2019s strong run-up, following the interim trade deal struck between India and the US. Earnings, rather than headlines, are once again dictating price action, said Palak Shah, VP of institutional sales at PL Capital.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A Mint <\/i>analysis of over 3,000 companies in the December quarter reveals that sales growth remains sluggish at 8% year-on-year, significantly trailing profit growth, which reached nearly 11%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A firm US dollar and mild rupee depreciation added to the pressure, prompting defensive positioning and selective profit-booking across sectors. Banks, financial services, <\/span>automobiles<\/a>, fast-moving consumer goods, metals and energy stocks came under selling pressure, said experts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

India fell behind major Asian peers such as South Korea, Taiwan and Japan this week, after emerging as the top-performing market a week prior.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Still, foreign portfolio investors<\/a> (FPIs) remained net buyers in February. They have purchased equities worth \u20b9<\/span>19,675 crore until 13 February, showed data from National Securities Depository Ltd.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The flows suggest that while near-term sentiment has turned cautious, overseas investors are not yet decisively bearish on India. Investors are uneasy about slower technology spending in the US and AI\u2019s potential to disrupt traditional outsourcing models.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

This appears more like a reality check than a structural downturn, Shah said. \u201cThe market isn\u2019t giving up on IT \u2014 it\u2019s simply becoming more selective,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Santosh Meena, head of research at Swastika Investmart, said: “At this stage, it appears to be a healthy pullback within an ongoing uptrend, but it could have more legs in the near term. The key risk lies in the vulnerability of US markets, which are showing signs of a potentially deeper correction.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

IT sees \u20b9<\/span>3 tn selloff<\/h2>\n

Technology stocks bore the brunt of the correction for the second consecutive week. The BSE IT index declined nearly 8% this week and has fallen about 14% over the past two weeks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The sharp decline was driven by heavy selling in Infosys Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), HCL Technologies Ltd, Wipro Ltd and Tech Mahindra Ltd. Together, they lost over \u20b9<\/span>3 trillion in market capitalization during the week, underscoring the severity of the rout.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Also Read<\/strong> | How new IT rules impact India’s \u20b94,500 crore creator economy<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

The recent IT sell-off follows two consecutive quarters of weak results, during which these stocks underperformed the broader market. The Nifty IT index has declined to its lowest level relative to the Nifty 500 since April 2018, close to an eight-year low, suggesting the weakness has been building.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

While several IT companies<\/a> continue to demonstrate strong balance sheets, healthy dividend payouts, and robust return metrics, clearer visibility on growth may be needed before sentiment turns more constructive, said Alok Agarwal, head of quant and fund manager at Alchemy Capital Management. \u201cIn our view, either valuations need to become more compelling or growth visibility needs to improve for the sector to begin outperforming.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

By contrast, defensive bets like consumption-oriented segments offered relative resilience. Auto, consumer durables and consumer discretionary stocks emerged among the best performers this week as investors gravitated toward businesses with steadier earnings visibility, Shah said. \u201cSofter commodity prices and easing inflation are helping margins, while expectations of a rural pickup are adding to optimism (in consumer stocks).\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

However, large-caps underperformed mid- and small-cap indices this week as pressure on IT and select financial heavyweights weighed on benchmark returns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Shah said that mid- and small-cap stocks continue to present opportunities, but cautioned that valuations in certain pockets still remain demanding, making consistent earnings delivery critical. \u201cThe phase of easy re-rating is largely behind us,\u201d he added, arguing that large-caps still offer greater stability and institutional support despite last year\u2019s rally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SBI trips TCS<\/h2>\n

One stock stood out amid this week\u2019s volatility. State Bank of India (SBI) surpassed TCS in market capitalization, becoming India\u2019s fourth-largest company by market value. SBI currently commands a \u20b9<\/span>11 lakh crore in market cap against TCS\u2019s \u20b9<\/span>9.7 lakh crore. This milestone indicates a clear shift in investor preference from IT to financials amid the global technology rout, Shah noted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Improving asset quality and stronger earnings have aided the country\u2019s largest lender and buoyed sentiment around public sector banks in general, Shah said. However, he warned that leadership within the banking space remains narrow as private lenders are lagging.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Also Read<\/strong> | D-Street rallies on trade relief, but investors still cautious: Mint survey<\/a><\/div>\n
\n

Looking ahead, investors will track US macroeconomic data, signals from the Federal Reserve, and ongoing corporate earnings commentary for cues next week. For now, the market appears to be consolidating and rotating across sectors swiftly, rather than turning risk-off decisively.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Srushti Vaidya contributed to this story.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… s rally adding to the tech<\/span>-driven selloff. The Nifty … as heavy selling in information technology<\/span> (IT) heavyweights dragged the … Technologies Ltd, Wipro Ltd and Tech<\/span> Mahindra Ltd. Together, they … to financials amid the global technology<\/span> rout, Shah noted. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87484\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}