DIVYA DELHI : IT stocks witnessed a sharp sell-off on Tuesday after AI firm Anthropic highlighted the capabilities of its Claude Code tool to modernise legacy COBOL systems, sparking concerns over potential disruption to traditional IT services. Shares of Infosys fell over 3%, while TCS, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Mphasis, and Persistent Systems declined between 2% and 5%. The Nifty IT index dropped 3.7% to 30,380.55 by 11 am, dragged down by heavyweights. Market sentiment turned negative after Anthropic claimed its AI tool can automate much of the analysis required in COBOL modernisation. Since COBOL systems power critical sectors like banking, airlines and government services — and remain widely used in US ATM networks — investors fear AI-led automation could pressure revenues of traditional IT firms that rely on legacy system upgrades. The development has revived concerns that rapid AI advancements may erode the competitive advantage of established IT services companies.
