IT stocks continue to go south; fall for 5th day

New Delhi, Sep 26 (PTI) IT stocks continued to face heavy selling on Friday amid H-1B visa fee concerns and weak guidance from IT services and consulting company Accenture.

The stock of Intellect Design Arena tanked 6.82 per cent, Oracle Financial Services Software dropped 4.43 per cent, Zensar Technologies fell by 3.59 per cent, Happiest Minds Technologies lost 2.99 per cent, Hexaware Tech went down by 2.88 per cent, Wipro declined 2.60 per cent, Tech Mahindra edged lower by 2.52 per cent, Infosys slipped 2.43 per cent, Tata Consultancy Services dipped 2.04 per cent and HCL Tech (1.98 per cent) on the BSE.

The BSE IT index fell by 2.41 per cent to 33,327.

Since last Friday, from the blue-chip stocks -- Tech Mahindra has tanked 9.42 per cent, TCS slumped 8.50 per cent, Wipro tumbled 7.98 per cent, Infosys dropped 5.95 per cent, and HCL Tech lost 4.92 per cent.

The market valuation of TCS has eroded by Rs 97,597.91 crore since last Friday, while that of Infosys dived by Rs 38,095.78 crore.

Wipro's valuation fell by Rs 21,404.08 crore this week. HCL Tech lost Rs 19,592.66 crore from its valuation during this time, while Tech Mahindra faced an erosion of Rs 14,295.51 crore.

Together, these firms have lost Rs 1,90,985.94 crore from market valuation.

"Accenture's weaker guidance and job cuts highlighted slowing IT spending, with AI-driven growth failing to meet expectations, prompting a broad sell-off in tech shares," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments Limited, said.

Accenture has a significant workforce in India.

Last week, the Trump administration announced a one-time USD 1,00,000 fee on H-1B visas.

Notably, Indian tech professionals account for the bulk of H-1Bs -- over 70 per cent.

In the equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 733.22 points or 0.90 per cent to settle at 80,426.46. The 50-share NSE Nifty tumbled 236.15 points or 0.95 per cent to 24,654.70.

"Indian equities ended sharply lower on Friday in a broad-based sell-off after the US announced a steep 100% tariff on imports of branded and patented pharmaceutical products effective October 1. The unexpected move rattled already fragile investor sentiment, which was still digesting the recent hike in H-1B visa fees that triggered heavy selling in IT counters this week," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said. PTI SUM SUM SHW