On November 18, the Nifty IT index experienced a significant decline of nearly 3% due to comments made by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Powell stated that there was no urgency to lower interest rates despite ongoing economic growth and persistent inflation.
The tech index has performed well this year, surging 16% compared to the Nifty 50's 8% gain. However, Powell's remarks triggered a sell-off in tech stocks, leading to a broader market reaction that saw the NASDAQ Composite drop over 2%, its largest single-day decline in two weeks.
Additionally, midcap IT stocks such as Coforge, Persistent Systems, L&T Technology Services, and Mphasis also reported losses of 1-2%.