IT stocks tumble on US H-1B visa fee hike concerns

IT stocks dropped on Monday, with Infobeans Technologies falling 8 per cent and Hexaware tumbling 7 per cent, amid concerns over the steep hike in US H-1B visa fees.

Shares of Infobeans Technologies fell 8.08 per cent, Hexaware Technologies tumbled 7.08 per cent, LTI Mindtree tanked 4.54 per cent, Persistent Systems dropped 4.19 per cent and Tech Mahindra declined 3.2 per cent on the BSE.

The stock of Tata Consultancy Services dipped 3.02 per cent, Infosys edged lower by 2.61 per cent, Wipro declined 2.25 per cent and HCL Tech went down 1.84 per cent.

The BSE IT index declined 2.73 per cent to 34,988.20.

Falling for the second day in a row, the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 466.26 points or 0.56 per cent to settle at 82,159.97. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 124.70 points or 0.49 per cent to 25,202.35.

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.

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