Wipro, Persistent Systems, Coforge, Infosys: IT stocks sink as Jefferies turns cautious 

IT stocks came under severe selling pressure on Wednesday after global brokerage Jefferies issued a cautionary note on the sector. IT stocks such as Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Technologies and TCS were among the top Sensex losers. Tech Mahindra stock ended 3.35% lower at Rs 1271 against the previous close of Rs 1315. Market cap of Tech Mahindra fell to Rs 1.24 lakh crore. On similar lines, Infosys stock fell 1.76% to Rs 1404.20. Mcap of the IT firm slipped to Rs 5.83 lakh crore. 

Shares of TCS slipped 1.44% to close at Rs 3246.10. Market cap of TCS fell to Rs 11.74 lakh crore on BSE. Other IT stocks such as Wipro (4.29%), Persistent Systems (4.17%) , Orient Technologies (4%), Datamatics (3%), Genesys International (2%), Netweb Technologies (2.57%), LTIMindtree  (1.62%), and Coforge (2%) were the top losers on the BSE IT index today. 

The BSE IT index was among the top sectoral losers on BSE, falling 655 points to 32,022 against the previous close of 32,677. On similar lines, Nifty IT index slipped 2.19% or 727 points to reach a low of 32517 in the current session.  

Jefferies reduced the earnings per share (EPS) projections for the covered stocks by 2 to 14%, highlighting Infosys, Coforge and Sagility as its favoured choices. 

Jefferies lowered its rating for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) from 'Buy' to 'Hold'. It cut the target price for TCS from Rs 4,530 per share to Rs 3,300 per share. 

Wipro's shares also received a downgrade from 'Hold' call to 'Underperform' call from Jefferies. The global brokerage reduced its target price from Rs 310 to Rs 210 per share, signalling a potential downside of more than 15 per cent from the last close. 
 
The brokerage also reduced its rating on Mphasis shares from 'Buy' to 'Hold'. It reduced the stock's target price from Rs 3,250 per share to Rs 2,300 per share. However, this suggests an upside potential of over 6 per cent from the stock's last closing price. 

Price target of Infosys was lowered to Rs 1,700 per share from the previous Rs 1,835 each. The fresh target price indicates a potential upside of almost 19 per cent from the stock’s last closing price.  

The brokerage also lowered Coforge's target price from Rs 10,350 per share to Rs 7,860 per share.  Another IT major Sagality's target price trimmed from Rs 64 to Rs 48, suggesting a potential rally of 23 per cent in a year.