IT stocks in the red after Trump orders banning H-1B workers in federal contracts, Tech Mahindra, Wipro fall

The Indian stock market has opened higher on August 4 after four sessions of losses with Sensex is up 469.04 points or 1.27 percent at 37408.64, and the Nifty jumped 128.70 points or 1.18 percent at 11020.30.

Among the sectors, the IT index underperformed, down a percent after US President Donald Trump signed another executive order banning H-1B workers in federal contracts.

The order prevents federal agencies from employing H-1B workers in a bid to save American jobs.

“This executive order will help prevent federal agencies from unfairly replacing American workers with low-cost foreign labour,” Trump said in the order.

The order will require all federal agencies to complete an internal audit and assess whether they are in compliance with the requirement that only United States citizens and nationals are appointed to the competitive service.

Among the IT names, Tech Mahindra was down over 2 percent followed by Mindtree, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Tech and L&T Infotech.

Infosys share price however gained over a percent in the early trade after company got selected by National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) for digitally transformation of its transaction banking business.

It was one of the most active on NSE in terms of value with 46,39,720 shares being traded at 10:41 hours.