Sensex Declines 831 Points, Nifty Slips Nearly 1% As Accenture's Weak Guidance Triggers IT Sell-Off

Indian benchmark indices opened lower on Friday, extending their losing streak for a second straight session. The decline was led by heavy selling in information technology stocks after Accenture issued weaker-than-expected revenue guidance.

The BSE Sensex opened 557 points lower at 76,852, compared to its previous close of 77,409. The 30-share benchmark later slipped further to an intraday low of 76,578, down 831 points, or around 1 percent, from the previous close.

The NSE Nifty opened 177 points lower at 23,991 against its previous closing level. The 50-share index declined further to 23,938, down 0.95 percent from the previous session.

Market breadth remained mixed. Of the 3,064 stocks traded on the National Stock Exchange, 1,557 advanced while 1,417 declined.

Information technology stocks dominated the losers' chart. All five top losers in the Nifty 50 were IT companies.

Infosys emerged as the biggest loser, falling nearly 7.7 percent. Tata Consultancy Services declined 5.91 percent, while Tech Mahindra and HCLTech dropped 4.30 percent and 4.12 percent, respectively. Wipro also slipped 3.19 percent during early trade.

Auto and banking stocks also remained under pressure. Mahindra & Mahindra fell 1.26 percent, Tata Motors declined 1.18 percent, and Eicher Motors slipped 0.50 percent. Among banking stocks, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank featured among the notable losers.

On the gaining side, Bharti Airtel emerged as the top performer with gains of more than 1.13 percent.

Energy and consumer stocks also traded higher. NTPC rose over 1 percent, while Power Grid Corporation gained 0.23 percent. Nestlé India advanced 0.37 percent, and Tata Consumer Products posted marginal gains.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty IT was the worst performer, declining 5.53 percent. Only five of the 21 sectoral indices traded in positive territory, while the rest remained in the red.

The sharp decline in IT stocks followed Accenture's decision to lower its full-year revenue growth guidance to 3-4 percent from its earlier forecast of 3-5 percent. The company also indicated that client spending budgets have not expanded despite growing interest in artificial intelligence, triggering broad-based selling across the IT sector.