“Market Tumbles: Sensex Down 346, Nifty Dips Under 25,300; Tech Mahindra Hits 6% Loss”

Sensex Opens Lower as IT Stocks Slide Amid H-1B Visa Rules, Domestic Consumption Themes Offer Support.

Benchmark indices opened lower on Monday, dragged down by IT stocks after new H-1B visa rules announced by the US government came into effect from September 21, dampening investor sentiment.

At 9:25 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 267.56 points at 82,358.67, while the NSE Nifty50 fell 48.60 points to 25,278.45.

Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, said the market may show a dual trend today. While IT stocks face pressure from H-1B visa restrictions, domestic consumption themes could benefit from lower GST rates taking effect.

“This festival season could see one of the strongest consumption booms in recent times. The Indian stock market, after underperforming globally for the past year, is likely to rebound. However, a runaway rally is unlikely due to high valuations,” he added.

Sectoral performance in early trade:

IT stocks tumbled: Tech Mahindra (-4.08%), Infosys (-2.53%), HCL Technologies (-2.46%), TCS (-2.21%)

Pharma and healthcare also fell: Sun Pharma (-0.40%), Nifty Pharma (-0.48%), Nifty Healthcare (-0.31%)

Gainers included: UltraTech Cement (+0.85%), Adani Ports (+0.78%), Trent (+0.73%), Eicher Motors (+0.65%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (+0.45%)

Other indices showed mixed trends:

Nifty Midcap100 rose 0.06%, Nifty Smallcap100 gained 0.03%

India VIX jumped 5.09%

Among sectoral indices, Nifty IT fell the most (-2.37%), followed by Nifty Pharma (-0.48%) and Nifty Consumer Durables (-0.02%)

Positive performers included Nifty PSU Bank (+0.73%), Nifty Realty (+0.78%), Nifty Media (+0.65%), and Nifty Metal (+0.52%)

Vijayakumar noted that the current low-interest-rate environment could support a consumption-led rally and boost credit demand, benefiting financials. “Banking stocks, which have faced pressure from NIM compression concerns, are fairly valued and could deliver decent returns,” he said.