IT stocks continue to reel under pressure for 4th day on H-1B visa fee concerns

IT stocks continued to slide for the fourth day in a row on Thursday as the staggering hike in US H-1B visa fees continues to hurt investor sentiment.

The stock of Infobeans Technologies dropped 2.64 per cent, Tata Consultancy Services declined 2.50 per cent, Hexaware Technologies lost 1.91 per cent, HCL Technologies dipped 1.31 per cent, Wipro fell by 1.06 per cent, Infosys (0.64 per cent) and Tech Mahindra (0.61 per cent).

The BSE IT index declined by 1.10 per cent to end at 34,149.55.

“The Nifty 50 extended its losing streak to a fifth straight session amidst heavy selling in IT stocks after the US imposed a USD 1,00,000 H-1B visa fee,” Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.

Since last Friday, from the blue-chip stocks — Tech Mahindra has tanked 7 per cent, TCS lost 6.60 per cent, Wipro fell by 5.52 per cent, Infosys declined 3.61 per cent, and HCL Tech dropped 2.99 per cent.

TCS has lost Rs 75,798.93 crore in market valuation since last Friday, while Infosys faced an erosion of Rs 23,119.19 crore, Wipro’s market cap declined by Rs 14,799.36 crore, that of HCL Tech (by Rs 11,940.12 crore) and Tech Mahindra (by Rs 10,729.9 crore). Together, these five firms have lost Rs 1,36,387.5 crore in market valuation in four days. “IT stocks bore the brunt of the sell-off, with the Nifty IT index plunging more than 6 per cent this week on visa concerns. Frontline IT stocks like Infosys, TCS, Wipro and HCL Tech traded deep in the red on Thursday,” Hariprasad K, Research Analyst and Founder – Livelong Wealth, said.

Last week, the Trump administration announced a one-time USD 1,00,000 fee on H-1B visas.

Notably, Indian tech professionals account for the bulk of H-1Bs — over 70 per cent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 555.95 points or 0.68 per cent to settle at 81,159.68. The 50-share NSE Nifty tumbled 166.05 points or 0.66 per cent to 24,890.85.