Mumbai: The Indian benchmark indices opened marginally lower on Monday, despite positive global cues, with IT stocks leading losses owing to concerns over the new US H-1B visa rules.
As of 9:26 am, the Sensex was down 189 points, or 0.23 percent, at 82,772, while the Nifty was down 40 points, or 0.16 percent, at 25,286. Both indices had opened with sharper dips—0.40 percent for the Sensex and 0.33 percent for the Nifty—but later trimmed their losses.
IT giants such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, and Coforge slipped in early trade. The US government clarified that visa holders returning to the country are exempt from the new $100,000 fee, providing marginal relief to Indian IT companies. The White House stated the visa fee would be a one-time payment, applicable only to new applications starting from the next lottery cycle (March–April 2026), and not on renewals.
Among broader indices, the Nifty Midcap 100 dipped 0.05 percent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 lost 0.12 percent. Key losers included Tech Mahindra, TCS, Tata Motors, Apollo Hospitals, and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories.
Sectorally, the Nifty IT index was the top loser, falling 2.68 percent. Nifty Pharma (down 0.45 percent) and Nifty Healthcare (down 0.33 percent) also weighed on the overall indices. All other sectoral indices were trading with marginal gains.
The Nifty index has held firmly above the 25,300 mark, closing at 25,327 in the previous session. It continues to trade above its key moving averages—the 20-day, 50-day, and 200-day EMAs—reaffirming a broader bullish undertone. Analysts predict that sentiment will remain positive as long as the index stays above these averages. Immediate resistance levels are placed at 25,500, followed by 25,600 and 25,850 zones. Support is seen at 25,150 and 25,000 levels.
Experts suggest the market is likely to exhibit mixed behavior, with the IT sector impacted by the H-1B visa issue, while domestic consumption themes respond positively to a potential increase in consumption following lower GST rates effective from today. The current low-interest-rate environment is expected to support a consumption boost and increase credit demand, which may enhance the profitability of financial sector stocks.
In the Asia-Pacific region, markets mostly rose on Monday, tracking Wall Street’s gains from Friday and boosted by China’s decision to keep key lending rates unchanged.
In the US, the Nasdaq added 0.72 percent, the S&P 500 edged up 0.49 percent, and the Dow inched 0.37 percent higher in the last trading session.
Most Asian markets were trading in the green during the morning session. China’s Shanghai index rose 0.07 percent, Shenzhen advanced 0.17 percent, Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.45 percent, and South Korea’s Kospi added 1.06 percent. However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index declined 0.82 percent.
On Friday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers, purchasing equities worth Rs 390 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were also net buyers, acquiring equities worth Rs 2,105 crore.
*Note: Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.*
https://www.freepressjournal.in/business/stock-market-opens-marginally-lower-nifty-it-down-268