US H-1B visa concerns drag IT stocks as Sensex, Nifty take hit

Mumbai: India's benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty settled lower on Monday, dragged down by IT stocks after US President Donald Trump's decision to raise H-1B visa fees to $1,00,000 per worker.

The  BSE Sensex dropped 466 points to 82,159.97 in the day. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 124 points to 25,202. 

From the Sensex firms, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Service, Infosys, HCL Tech, Tata Motors, Trent, Reliance Industries and Larsen & Toubro were among the major laggards.

However, Eternal, Bajaj Finance, Adani Ports and UltraTech Cement were among the gainers.

"The Nifty-50 opened with a gap-down, as aggressive selling in frontline IT stocks—triggered by the steep hike in US H-1B visa fees—sparked profit-taking and caution after a strong three-week rally," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, told PTI.

President Trump on Friday signed a proclamation raising the fee on the visas used by companies to hire workers, including from India, to live and work in the US.

The H-1B visa fee of $1,00,000 would be applicable only to new applicants, a White House official clarified on Saturday.

"The market is likely to witness a dualistic behaviour today with the IT sector getting impacted by the H-1B visa issue and the domestic consumption themes responding to the potential big boost to consumption coming from the lower GST rates kicking in from today," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index and Shanghai's SSE Composite index settled in positive territory while Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended lower. Markets in Europe were trading lower.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.10 per cent to $66.61 a barrel. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹390.74 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

On Friday, the Sensex tanked 387.73 points or 0.47 per cent to settle at 82,626.23. The Nifty declined 96.55 points or 0.38 per cent to 25,327.05.

The rupee depreciated 15 paise to close at 88.31 (provisional) against the US dollar, as investors weighed Trump's H-1B visa fee hike impact on Indian remittances amid heightened risk-averse sentiment.