IT Stocks Tumble on US H-1B Visa Fee Hike

New Delhi, Sep 22 (PTI) IT stocks dropped in morning trade on Monday, with Tech Mahindra tumbling over 6 per cent, amid concerns over the steep hike in US H-1B visa fees.

Shares of Tech Mahindra tumbled 6.45 per cent, LTI Mindtree slumped 5.61 per cent, Persistent Systems dropped 5.51 per cent, Hexaware Technologies tanked 5.14 per cent and HCL Tech fell by 4.24 per cent on the BSE.

The stock of Infosys edged lower by 3.91 per cent, Wipro declined 3.51 per cent and Tata Consultancy Services dipped 3.36 per cent.

The BSE IT index traded lower by 2.20 per cent to 35,177.15.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 475.16 points to 82,151.07 in opening trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 88.95 points to 25,238.10.

Later, both the benchmarks recovered most of their early lost ground and were trading marginally lower.

"The Nifty-50 opened with a gap-down, as aggressive selling in frontline IT stocks—triggered by the steep hike in US H-1B visa fees—sparked profit-taking and caution after a strong three-week rally," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.

US President Donald Trump on Friday signed a proclamation raising the fee on the visas used by companies to hire workers, including from India, to live and work in the US.

The H-1B visa fee of USD 100,000 would be applicable only to new applicants, a White House official clarified on Saturday.

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