FIIs Sell ₹17,000 Crore In IT Stocks In February Amid AI Concerns

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold nearly ₹17,000 crores worth of information technology stocks in February 2026, following fears over the possible impact of generative artificial intelligence on the segment, as per the National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL).

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The selling was spread across the month, with FIIs offloading about ₹11,000 crore worth of IT shares during the first half of February and nearly ₹6,000 crore in the second half. Despite the sector-specific outflows, FIIs remained net buyers in the broader Indian equity market, purchasing shares worth about ₹15,250 crore during the month, NSDL data showed.

FII Holdings In IT Stocks Decline

Following the sustained selling, the value of FII holdings in IT stocks declined to around ₹4.18 lakh crore at the end of February, the lowest level in four years. This marked a decline of about 21.8% from ₹5.34 lakh crore recorded at the end of January 2026, according to NSDL.

Foreign investors have been gradually reducing their exposure to IT stocks since the beginning of 2025. The cumulative sale of FIIs in the IT space during this period amounts to around ₹74,698 crore.

The value of the holdings of the IT sector shares by FIIs at the beginning of 2025 stood at around ₹7.3 lakh crore.  With continued selling and a fall in stock prices, the value of these investments has declined by roughly 42.8%, NSDL data showed.

Sharp Decline In IT Stock Prices

Major IT stocks recorded sharp declines during February 2026. Shares of Infosys fell about 20.4% during the month, while Tata Consultancy Services declined 18%.

HCL Technologies dropped 20.1%, Tech Mahindra declined 23.5%, and Persistent Systems lost about 23%. Wipro also recorded a decline of around 17.4% during the month.

Reflecting the broad-based decline across technology companies, the Nifty IT index fell about 20.8% during February.

Sectoral Flows In February

Apart from IT stocks, foreign investors also reduced exposure to some other sectors in the second half of February. FIIs sold shares worth ₹5,238 crore in consumer services and ₹1,775 crore in telecom stocks.

Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) stocks witnessed selling of around ₹769 crore, while the chemicals and consumer durables sectors saw selling of more than ₹350 crore each during the period.

At the same time, several sectors recorded inflows from foreign investors. Capital goods stocks attracted purchases worth ₹4,103 crore in the second half of February after inflows of ₹8,032 crore in the first half, according to NSDL data.

Automobile stocks also recorded inflows of ₹3,075 crore in the second half of the month following purchases of ₹511 crore earlier. Construction stocks saw buying worth ₹2,742 crore, and metal stocks attracted ₹2,359 crore during the second half.

Financial services and power stocks also recorded inflows of ₹2,243 crore and ₹1,234 crore, respectively, during the latter half of February, according to NSDL data.