Jefferies downgrade deepens Nifty IT selloff as Infosys and TCS remain under pressure
Indian IT stocks remained weak on February 23, 2026. A broad downgrade call by Jefferies around 13:05 IST added a fresh trigger during market hours. Infosys, TCS, HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra were under pressure intraday, and the weakness was sector-wide.
The broader market was stronger at the same time, with headline indices in positive territory. Even then, Nifty IT stayed in the red and slipped for a fourth straight session. IT stocks fell by as much as 2.5% after the downgrade set and target price cuts.
Why the market reacted
The reaction centred on one key factor. Jefferies flagged AI disruption as a risk to IT services business models and cut its stance on six names. The market treated this as a sector-level negative event, not a one-company issue.
Selling spread across large IT stocks and persisted even when the broader market tone was better. This showed that the downgrade narrative had stronger immediate impact on the IT basket than gains in other sectors.
Price and technical snapshot
All price and indicator values below are from the SQL snapshot as of February 20, 2026. For all four stocks, indicator_as_of_date is also February 20, 2026.
- Infosys (INFY) closed at 1352.50, down -1.02%. Volume was 12030862 against average volume of 18314131. RSI (14) was 22.49. MACD line was -71.3281 and MACD signal was -54.5572. The stock was below SMA 20 (1511.02) and SMA 50 (1584.26), with trend label below_sma20_sma50.
- TCS (TCS) closed at 2685.50, with 0.39% change. Volume was 2220229 against average volume of 4654089. RSI (14) was 25.82. MACD line was -131.8738 and MACD signal was -104.6063. The stock was below SMA 20 (2945.99) and SMA 50 (3115.05), with trend label below_sma20_sma50.
- HCL Tech (HCLTECH) closed at 1436.50, down -0.96%. Volume was 2348559 against average volume of 3261892. RSI (14) was 24.04. MACD line was -58.6651 and MACD signal was -41.9234. The stock was below SMA 20 (1583.93) and SMA 50 (1630.40), with trend label below_sma20_sma50.
- Tech Mahindra (TECHM) closed at 1464.00, down -0.95%. Volume was 1550231 against average volume of 2464829. RSI (14) was 26.63. MACD line was -43.7903 and MACD signal was -21.0774. The stock was below SMA 20 (1626.95) and SMA 50 (1622.48), with trend label below_sma20_sma50.
Closing context
The downgrade-driven selloff headline is from February 23, 2026, while the technical snapshot is from February 20, 2026. Even with this timing difference, the available setup already showed weak momentum and prices below key moving averages across major IT names.
The February 23 trigger added fresh pressure to a sector that was already fragile and extended Nifty IT weakness despite strength in the wider market.