A seismic shift in AI capabilities sent shockwaves through Dalal Street on Tuesday, driving the Sensex down 1,068.74 points (1.28%) to 82,225.92. Nifty mirrored the pain, shedding 288.35 points (1.12%) to close at 25,424.65. At the epicenter: Anthropic’s bold claim of a Claude tool that modernizes COBOL code, potentially slashing IT services demand.
This revelation fueled a 4.74% crash in Nifty IT, the worst performer. The tool promises to automate what Indian tech firms charge billions for, prompting investors to dump shares en masse.
Cascading weakness hit Realty (down 2.54%), Services (1.46%), Media (1.31%), Consumption (0.86%), and Infra (0.72%). Defying the trend, Metal surged 0.93%, Energy 0.78%, Commodities 0.70%, PSE 0.56%, and PSU Banks 0.29%.
Midcaps lost 0.32% (Nifty Midcap 100 at 59,066.35), smallcaps 0.55% (16,958.65), softening the blow for smaller players.
Top Sensex performers: NTPC, HUL, Tata Steel, Power Grid, Titan, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma. Laggards dominated by IT: Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, InterGlobe Aviation, Infosys, TCS, L&T, Trent, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, BEL.
SBI Securities’ Sudeep Shah analyzed: Nifty opened weak, hit 25,328 low, closed 25,425 (-1.12%). Support zone 25,370-25,350; breakdown targets 25,150/24,950. Resistance 25,600-25,650.
The episode highlights AI’s accelerating threat to India’s IT export engine. With global clients eyeing in-house AI solutions, traditional models face obsolescence. Market participants brace for volatility as tech earnings loom.