- Infosys ADR fell 8.22% to $14.46 amid a global AI-driven tech selloff
- Wipro ADR dropped 4.60% to $2.28 on the NYSE amid IT sector decline
- Nifty IT index hit a 10-month low, entering bear market territory
Infosys, Wipro ADRs: American Depository Receipt (ADR) shares of India's top information technology (IT) stocks including Infosys and Wipro crashed over 7% on Thursday, Feb. 12 after bears tightened their grip on Indian IT counters amid a global AI-led tech selloff. The Nifty IT index hovered near a 10-month low, entering a bear market territory, dragged by concerns over artificial intelligence disruption while fading expectations of a near-term US Federal Reserve rate cut also weighed.
Infosys ADR was down 8.22% to $14.46 on the American stock exchange, near the day's low, while Wipro ADR last dropped 4.60% to $2.28 on the NYSE. The ADR is a tool for foreign companies or organisations to trade on US stock markets, just like regular shares of US companies. In theory, an ADR is similar to a special certificate issued by a US bank.
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US stock indexes also traded lower amid the selloff in software and technology shares. All 'magnificent seven' stocks posted declines, with Apple and Amazon falling 3.7% and 3%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 520.09 points, or 1.04%, to 49,601.31, S&P 500 lost 72.75 points, or 1.05%, to 6,870.44, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 357.35 points, or 1.55%, to 22,709.12. Cisco slumped 11% after the networking equipment provider posted quarterly adjusted gross margin below estimates.
Nifty IT enters bear market
Rapid advances in AI, triggered by Anthropic's latest automation push that was revealed last week, have fuelled fears of an AI-driven automation disrupting Indian IT's labour-intensive business model. The Nifty IT index fell 5.5% on the day, the biggest decline in percentage terms among 16 sub-indexes and the worst performing sector of the day. It has declined 12.5% so far in 2026 after losing 12.6% last year.
Shares of Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and HCLTech fell 5.5%, 5.7%, and 4.1%, respectively, on the day. The selloff in IT dragged domestic equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty 50 to clock their worst session since Budget day on Feb. 12. India's IT stocks have shed 14% since Feb. 4 when the selloff began, resulting in TCS - previously India's fourth-most valuable stock - sliding to sixth place. India's tech stocks have been battered the most lately, while peers in Asia, Europe and North America have recovered slightly.
Adding to the pressure on IT, hopes of Fed rate cut faded after US job growth unexpectedly accelerated in January and the unemployment rate fell, bolstering bets that interest rates may stay higher for longer. That weighed on IT firms, which derive a significant portion of revenue from the US. Lower US rates could lift demand for IT spending that has largely been muted for the last few years.
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