Sensex falls 466 points, Nifty ends below 25,200 as Trump’s H-1B visa rules hit IT stocks; TCS, Infy slide 2-3%

The Indian share market closed lower on Monday, dragged by a sharp sell-off in information technology and pharma shares after US President Donald Trump raised fees on new H-1B visa applications. Gains in Adani group stocks, Bajaj Finance and UltraTech Cement lent some support, but the headline indices ended firmly in the red.

The Sensex fell 466 points or 0.56 percent, to 82,160, while the Nifty 50 closed at 25,202, down 125 points or 0.49 percent. Market breadth was weak with 1,186 advances against 1,920 declines on the NSE out of 3,205 traded shares.

IT sell-off leads declines

The Nifty IT index slumped 2.95 percent, leading sectoral losses as investor sentiment soured on fears of margin pressure from higher visa costs. Tech Mahindra shares fell 3.1 percent, TCS slipped 3 percent, while Infosys, Wipro and HCLTech lost 1.8-2.6 percent.

Selling extended to mid-tier names despite company clarifications. Firstsource Solutions reiterated that its local hiring and globally distributed delivery model insulated it from immigration changes, and Persistent Systems said it did not expect a material impact from the executive order -- yet both stocks ended lower.

Brokerages strike a cautious note

JPMorgan warned of a potential 2-6 percent hit to FY27 EPS if companies absorb the additional fee. Citi flagged high visa dependence -- more than 60 percent for Infosys and around 80 percent for HCLTech -- with the financial effect likely to be visible from FY27. Jefferies said a tighter onsite supply could lift wages and hurt profitability.

Some relief came after the White House clarified that the $100,000 levy is “not an annual fee” and applies only to new visas, not renewals or current visa holders, but this did little to ease the sector’s drag on indices.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said Monday’s trade reflected a dual track -- IT shares suffering the H-1B visa setback, while domestic consumption themes drawing support from GST rate cuts.

Top gainers and losers

Among Nifty stocks, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCLTech were among the top losers, down 2-3 percent each. Cipla fell 2.1 percent.

On the gainers’ side, Adani Enterprises rose 4.2 percent, followed by Eternal (+1.6 percent), Bajaj Finance (+1.4 percent), Adani Ports (+1.2 percent) and UltraTech Cement (+1.1 percent).

Sector snapshot

• Losers: IT (-2.95%), Pharma (-1.41%), FMCG (-0.47%), Services (-0.46%), Auto (-0.24%), PSU Bank (-0.36%), Private Bank (-0.21%), Infra (-0.31%), Realty (-0.21%), PSE (-0.29%).
• Flat/ marginal: Financial Services (+0.00%).
• Gainers: Energy (+0.69%), Commodities (+0.69%), Media (+0.48%), Metal (+0.39%), Consumption (+0.24%).

Midcap and smallcaps lose steam

The Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 both snapped multi-session rallies, falling 0.7 percent and 1.2 percent respectively. Declines were sharp in Mphasis, Coforge, Persistent Systems, Sona BLW, Voltas, Tata Technologies and Glenmark, which lost 3-5 percent each.

GST cuts vs macro drags

Domestic demand-linked stocks in autos, media and consumption found some support from the GST Council’s two-tier tax structure, effective today. ITC said it has already reduced prices across food categories from September 22 to pass on the benefit to consumers and trade partners, with the festive season expected to lift consumption further.

Offsetting factors remained. Brent crude rose 0.66 percent to $67.12 a barrel, a mild headwind for the inflation and trade balance calculus. Global cues were mixed, while US futures signalled a tepid open. Optimism persisted around India-US trade talks later this week, with a delegation led by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.

Technical view

“Last week’s move to the 25,400-25,600 zone along with the evening star candle formation suggests a pullback is likely,” said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. He pegged support at 24,880-24,800 and resistance near 25,669, with traders eyeing whether the Nifty can stabilise above 25,150-25,200 to avoid a deeper slide.

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