Nifty IT falls 1.5% as AI trade bounces back on Anthropic IPO filing; TCS, Infosys lead losses

Among other losers are Tata Consultancy Services and Coforge, which declined 2% and 1.4%, respectively. At 11:30 am on October 27, Nifty IT index was trading 1.5% lower at 31,796.8 and was the top loser among sectoral indices. Shares of Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. climbed more than 4% each, pushing Korea’s equity benchmark Kospi up as much as 4.9%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose as much as 2.4%, with Advantest Corp. up more than 9%.

Chip stocks were mixed in Taiwan and China. Claude-developer Anthropic moving a step closer to listing topped a list of news items overnight that helped calm the market’s recent worries on AI financing. Other highlights included SpaceX’s $40 billion equipment-finance lease and Meta Platforms Inc.’s plan for a $95 billion share sale. “Anthropic’s landmark IPO filing alongside Meta’s aggressive capex push has reignited broader risk appetite, pulling capital out of its defensive crouch and firmly restoring chip stocks back to the driver’s seat,” said Hebe Chen, a market analyst at Vantage Global Prime.

The rally comes ahead of earnings due this week from Samsung and SK Hynix as well as Big Tech spenders Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc. The reports will provide further clues on the health of the AI rally, which has struggled to get back on track after a summer selloff. Earlier this month, Nifty IT index rose nearly 14% in six sessions amid global AI sell-off. Concerns have been mounting over continued funding for the global AI buildout amid soaring debt levels.

Investors have also questioned whether the profits will be able to justify lofty stock valuations, leading to disappointing market debuts and scrapped equity deals. In that context, Anthropic’s prospectus for what may be the largest-ever stock market listing provided relief. The company detailed the billions of dollars in sales per year that its products can generate as well as the resources it has to pay for the chips and related equipment it needs to produce them.

The Kospi is down more than 35% from its June peak, hurt by drops in Samsung and SK Hynix. Foreign investors have sold more than $150 billion worth of stocks in the South Korean index this year, on a net basis.