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Why IT stocks are falling today: Indian IT stocks opened sharply lower on Wednesday, February 4, tracking a deep overnight sell-off in US technology shares. Weak global cues triggered broad-based selling across large-cap and mid-cap IT names, dragging the Nifty IT index down more than 5 per cent in early trade.

The sell-off followed sharp losses in US-listed software and SaaS stocks. Concerns over artificial intelligence-led disruption to traditional software business models weighed heavily on sentiment across global tech markets.

The decline was led by frontline IT stocks. Shares of Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro and Persistent Systems slipped close to 6 per cent each in early trade. Selling pressure was also visible in mid-tier IT stocks as investors reduced exposure to the sector.

The Nifty IT index fell as much as 5.99 per cent, or 2,313.85 points, to an intraday low of 36,297.90. All 10 index constituents were trading in the red.

Among individual stocks, LTIMindtree slipped around 6 per cent. Infosys was trading nearly 6 per cent lower at Rs 1,560.30 on the NSE. Wipro declined over 4 per cent, while Tata Consultancy Services was down 5.49 per cent.

Persistent Systems extended its losses. The stock was trading at Rs 5,876.50, down Rs 402, or 6.40 per cent, as concerns over IT business models intensified.

US technology stocks fell sharply overnight amid fears that rapid advances in artificial intelligence could disrupt established software and cloud companies. Investors worried that AI tools could erode pricing power and long-term subscription revenues.

AI-heavyweights Nvidia and Microsoft fell nearly 3 per cent each. Alphabet declined 1.2 per cent ahead of its earnings, while Amazon slipped 1.8 per cent.

The Nasdaq Composite ended 1.43 per cent lower at 23,255.19.

Concerns around Anthropic played a key role in the tech sell-off on February 3. Reports said investors reacted to new AI tools launched by the company, which could threaten the business models of traditional software, legal and data firms.

Anthropic, the company behind the Claude family of models, has reportedly rolled out new plug-ins for its Claude Cowork agent. These tools can automate tasks in legal, sales, marketing, compliance and data analysis. Markets fear this could disrupt high-margin, licensed software and professional services, accelerating revenue pressure across the global tech sector.