AI Disruption Sent Global Software Shares South: RELX, Thomson Reuters, SAP, and WPP Lead

Global software and IT services shares fell Monday, Feb 4, 2026, as fears of AI-driven disruption intensified after Anthropic launched plug-ins for its Claude Cowork agent, enabling automation across legal, sales, marketing, and data analysis. Europe and the U.S. led the selloff, with RELX down 3% and Thomson Reuters flat in light volume after a 16% drop on Tuesday. Wolters Kluwer fell 14% and 12% on Tuesday, while London Stock Exchange Group slid as much as 6.9%. Indian IT exporters and Japanese software developers including NEC, Nomura Research, and Fujitsu declined 8% to 11%. SAP dropped more than 3% after a cloud revenue forecast erased about $40 billion from its market value. Advertising peers WPP and Publicis each lost 3% in London and Paris, hitting new lows. U.S. tech ETFs and AI hyperscalers like Microsoft and Nvidia remain at record highs amid regulatory warnings of a potential tech bubble. Analysts note investors are stepping away from the software sector ahead of a potential reassessment of business models and client in-house AI capabilities.