After facing heavy selling pressure last week, Indian IT stocks saw a sharp recovery on February 17. The Nifty IT index, which had fallen 8.2% last week in its worst weekly performance in 11 months, bounced back nearly 2% in early trade.
Fresh buying in key stocks such as Infosys, TCS and HCLTech helped lift the sector and steady the broader market.
At 10:22 am, the Nifty 50 was down 0.04% at 25,674.6, while the BSE Sensex was up 0.08% at 83,339.7. Dalal Street had opened weak, but gains in IT stocks helped the indices recover from early losses. Weakness in Reliance Industries and financial stocks limited the overall upside.
WHY IT STOCKS ARE RISING TODAY
The main trigger for the rally was Infosys announcing a strategic partnership with artificial intelligence firm Anthropic. Investors reacted positively to the news, pushing Infosys shares nearly 3% higher to around Rs 1,407 during the session.
The company said it will work with Anthropic to build advanced AI solutions for enterprises, especially in highly regulated sectors. These include industries such as banking, healthcare and public services, where companies must follow strict rules and compliance standards.
The announcement came just days after Anthropic opened its first India office in Bengaluru. This move signals its growing focus on the Indian market.
Dario Amodei, CEO and co-founder of Anthropic, said, “There’s a big gap between an AI model that works in a demo and one that works in a regulated industry – and if you want to close that gap, you need domain expertise.”
His comment points to the need for strong industry knowledge to make AI useful in real business settings. Investors appear to believe that Infosys’ experience in handling complex client needs, combined with Anthropic’s AI tools, could create new growth opportunities.
NIFTY IT INDEX REBOUNDS
As of 10:30 am, the Nifty IT Index was up 1.92%, marking a clear rebound after recent weakness. The recovery was broad-based, with gains seen across most frontline IT stocks.
Infosys Ltd rose 3.03%. Coforge Ltd gained 2.01%, while Persistent Systems Ltd was up 1.99%. HCL Technologies Ltd added 1.81%, and Wipro Ltd moved higher by 1.73%. Oracle Financial Services Software Ltd gained 1.69%.
Mphasis Ltd rose 1.23%, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd added 1.22%, LTIMindtree Ltd was up 1.18%, and Tech Mahindra Ltd gained 1.14%. The gains across most major IT stocks suggest strong buying interest in early trade.
STRONG BUYING IN MID AND SMALL IT STOCKS
The rally was not limited to large companies. Several mid-cap and small-cap IT firms also posted strong gains.
Kellton Tech Solutions Ltd led the rally, rising 16.65%. Newgen Software Technologies Ltd gained 10.02%, while Quick Heal Technologies Ltd rose 7.08%. Ksolves India Ltd climbed 6.82%, and Allied Digital Services Ltd added 5.61%.
Other gainers included RateGain Travel Technologies Ltd up 4.54%, Infobeans Technologies Ltd up 4.49%, Intellect Design Arena Ltd up 4.26%, and Unicommerce eSolutions Ltd up 4.15%.
Mastek Ltd rose 3.74%, Nucleus Software Exports Ltd gained 3.61%, Sonata Software Ltd added 3.60%, and Nelco Ltd moved up 3.59%. Xchanging Solutions Ltd, Onward Technologies Ltd and MosChip Technologies Ltd also saw gains of over 3%.
Tanla Platforms Ltd rose 2.82%, Subex Ltd gained 2.78%, Genesys International Corporation Ltd added 2.75%, and BLS E-Services Ltd moved up 2.36%.
STOCKS THAT FELL
Despite the overall rally, a few IT stocks traded lower. Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services Ltd saw the sharpest fall, dropping 3.72%.
Blue Cloud Softech Solutions Ltd declined 1.42%, Birlasoft Ltd fell 1.13%, and CE Info Systems Ltd slipped 0.41%. 63 Moons Technologies Ltd eased 0.37%, while L&T Technology Services Ltd was down 0.36%.
Network People Services Technologies Ltd fell 0.29%, MapmyIndia declined 0.27%, and TVS Electronics Ltd was down 0.24%.
While IT stocks were strong, nine of the 16 major sectoral indices were in the red. Losses in Reliance Industries and financial stocks kept the headline indices largely flat.
However, the broader market showed some strength. The small-cap index rose 0.5%, and the mid-cap index was up 0.1%.
In summary, IT stocks are rising today mainly due to positive news around Infosys’ AI partnership with Anthropic and buying after last week’s sharp correction. The rebound in the sector has helped stabilise the market, even as other sectors continue to face pressure.
