IT Sector Under Most Pressure; Underperformance Seen- Infosys Cracks 10%

Markets have been in a consolidation phase and in trade today (April 18, 2022) have again fallen by a great deal of almost 1.6% on the Nifty, with broader markets still performing better.

The top factors weighing on the markets currently are higher bond yields which in the Indian markets are at a 3 year high, inflation fears, crude oil prices which have again risen in trade today and brent crude hovering above $112 per ounce.

Also, the unending Ukraine-Russia war is causing the market nervous.

Of the sectoral indices, there is a sea of red with only the metal and FMCG pack trading with slight gains. Furthermore, IT sector has been hit the hardest, dragging by over 4 percent, followed by media, bank Nifty and private and psu bank pack etc.

IT stocks are said to underpeform in the time to come and Nifty's support level for the week is 17300 while it may face resistance at 17800.

Individually from the IT pack, Infosys has been hit the hardest with loss to the tune of close to 7 percent as the company's margin estimates have been lowered. Further pressure has been seen on IT names such as Mphasis, Tech Mahindra and Mindtree all down between 4-5%. Others including Coforge, TCS, L&T, HCL, Wipro are also down between 0.8 to over 3% as for TCS.

As per Rajesh Palvia-Head Technicals and Derivatives,We expect sectors like sugar, fertilisers, cement and chemicals to show strength; while IT, banking, auto may show weakness.