Market Wrap: Sensex drops 466 points, Nifty slips below 25,250 as U.S. visa fee hike hits IT stocks

Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty retreated for a second session on Monday, with IT shares leading losses after United States sharply increased the one-time fee for H-1B visas to $100,000, delivering a fresh blow to a sector that had only just begun to stabilize.

The S&P BSE Sensex shed 466.26 points, or 0.56%, to close at 82,323.62. The NSE Nifty 50 fell 124.70 points, or 0.49%, to finish at 25,202.35. The declines followed profit-taking in the previous session, but the visa fee shock added pressure, weighing most heavily on IT names.

Top Movers

IT stocks slid 3.6% after the steep increase in H-1B visa application fees, a change viewed as threatening the sector’s long-standing practice of rotating skilled employees into the U.S.

Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra and Wipro fell between 2.2% and 3.1%, making them the heaviest drags on the Nifty 50.

Pharmaceutical shares, another group with significant U.S. exposure, lost 1.4%.

Broader markets also weakened, with small-cap and mid-cap indices down 1.2% and 0.7%, respectively.

Expert views

The domestic market traded on a lower note amid a sharp increase in H-1B visa costs, which weighed on the IT index, while mid-cap and small-cap stocks saw profit-booking following recent gains, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments.”GST rationalisation, a normal monsoon, lower interest rates, and tax incentives are expected to support consumption, narrowing the gap between valuations and growth prospects. Foreign investors are gradually turning buyers, driven by expectations of earnings upgrades in H2FY25, with consumption-focused sectors likely to attract attention and support the market,” said Nair.

In technical terms, the Nifty has been witnessing a pullback over the last two days, which is absolutely normal considering the 1,000-point rally that preceded it, said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.

“In fact, such minor corrections are healthy for a sustained uptrend. In the short term, support is placed at 25,050, and the overall structure remains intact as long as the index holds above this level. A decisive break below 25,050 could extend the correction towards 24,800. On the upside, resistance is seen at 25,250. A move above this level could signal a resumption of the uptrend,” said De.