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Indian shares fell on Monday, with IT stocks pacing the declines after the Trump administration announced sweeping changes to the H-1B visa regime, including a steep $100,000 fee for new applications.<\/p>\n
It is feared that the steep hike in H-1B visa fees will raise offshore deployment costs and could squeeze profit margins on existing contracts, particularly in cost-sensitive areas like application development and consulting.<\/p>\n
That said, overall losses in the market remained capped as lower GST rates took effect and a Japanese credit rating agency namely ‘Rating and Investment Information (R&I)’ upgraded India’s sovereign rating to BBB+ with a stable outlook.<\/p>\n
The benchmark BSE Sensex ended the session down 466.26 points, or 0.56 percent, at 82,159.97. <\/p>\n
The broader NSE Nifty index closed at 25,202.35, down 124.70 points, or 0.49 percent, from its previous close. <\/p>\n
The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes fell 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively. <\/p>\n
The market breadth was weak on the BSE, with 2,497 shares declining while 1,789 shares rose and 169 shares closed unchanged. <\/p>\n
IT stocks were among the worst hit, with HCL Technologies, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and TCS falling 2-3 percent.<\/p>\n
Among the top gainers, UltraTech Cement, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finance and Eternal rose 1-2 percent. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Market Analysis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n