Shares of Indian IT services providers Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Infosys Ltd., Wipro Ltd., Tech Mahindra Ltd., and peers opened with losses on Wednesday, September 18, ahead of the crucial US Fed meeting outcome.

On Wall Street, two-thirds of traders are expecting the US Federal Reserve to deliver a rare and bold 50 basis points rate cut tonight but that could signal chances of a recession in the US economy.

“An ideal and possible outcome would be a 25 bps rate cut with a dovish message indicating a series of rate cuts. Good retail sales data along with a weakening labour market point to such a possibility,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist of Geojit Financial Services.

In an interaction with CNBC-TV18, Andrew Holland, the CEO of Avendus Capital Public Markets Alternate Strategies, said that if the Fed cuts rates by 50 basis points, the Reserve Bank of India will likely take action in October.

He also mentioned that the markets would be pleased with a 25 bps cut and a dovish stance.

On the Nifty 50 index, the top five losers are IT stocks like Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Wipro, LTIMindtree, and TCS, trading with losses of up to 3%.

All 10 stocks in the Nifty IT index were trading in red. Out of the Nifty IT pack, Mphasis fell over 5%, while Persistent Systems shares were trading 4% lower.

Brokerage firm Macquarie has given an ‘Outperform’ rating on TCS, with a price target of ₹

5,740 per share. The Tata group company is better positioned and will grow faster than Infosys in both FY26 and FY27, Macquarie said in its note.

The foreign brokerage firm expects TCS to benefit from a rebound in spending, particularly in cloud migration deals, which are likely to be bundled between applications and infrastructure services.

Citi, meanwhile, has a ‘Sell’ call on LTIMindtree, with a price target of ₹5,635 per share.

The company continues to reiterate that the second quarter revenue growth trends will likely be similar to the first quarter.

Margins are expected to see continued pressure as growth is moderate and from cost takeout deals.

The current stock price is 32 times the projected earnings per share (EPS) for the fiscal year 2026, based on the consensus estimates of analysts, Citi said.

Meanwhile, Accenture also announced a significant shift in its promotion cycle, delaying the process by six months. Traditionally held in December, promotions at the global consulting and professional services giant will now occur in June.

The change comes as Accenture faces an uncertain economic landscape, marked by tightening corporate spending and macroeconomic volatility.

According to a recent note from JPMorgan, Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) is the largest revenue contributor to most of these IT companies. Some companies have an exposure of as high as 60% to the BFSI segment.

READ HERE | These IT stocks have highest exposure to the BFSI segment