Mumbai: Indian stock markets began Thursday on a weak note, primarily driven by a sharp fall in IT shares after Wipro gave a disappointing outlook for the upcoming quarter. Both the Sensex and Nifty indices saw significant losses in early trading. The BSE Sensex dropped by 362 points to 76,682.29, while the NSE Nifty fell 129.75 points to 23,307.45.
The decline was led by major IT companies such as HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Wipro. Wipro, in particular, faced a major setback, with its stock plummeting over 5% despite reporting a 25.9% rise in its consolidated net profit for the March quarter, which stood at ₹3,569.6 crore. The market reaction was negative due to Wipro’s forecast of a weak first quarter for FY26, where it expects IT services revenue to decline by up to 3.5%, citing ongoing global economic uncertainties.
In contrast to the downturn in IT stocks, banking and telecom sectors showed resilience. Key stocks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, and State Bank of India gained ground, offering some support to the broader market.
Interestingly, while Indian markets opened in the red, other major Asian markets performed better. Indices like South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225, Shanghai’s SSE Composite, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng all traded in the green.
Meanwhile, U.S. markets closed sharply lower on Wednesday, raising concerns among global investors. Despite this, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued to show confidence in the Indian market, remaining net buyers and purchasing equities worth ₹3,936.42 crore on Wednesday.
