IT stocks take a hit, down up to 2 pc on US visa worries

IT stocks fell by up to 2 per cent today on worries over hike in visa fee for Indian firms in the US, a key market for the domestic software sector.
Shares of Infosys fell 1.90 per cent, HCL Technologies 1.30 per cent and Tech Mahindra 1.24 per cent on BSE.
Similarly, Tata Consultancy Services was down 0.98 per cent and Wipro 0.29 per cent.
The BSE IT index slipped 1.31 per cent to settle at 10,948.53.
"IT stocks were down after the US Congress decided to impose a special fee of USD 4,000 on certain categories of H- 1B visas and USD 4,500 on L-1 visas," said Anand James, Co-Head Technical Research Desk, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

The US Congress has doubled a special fee on the popular H-1B and L-1 visas, raising it up to USD 4,500 to fund a 9/11 healthcare Act and biometric tracking system, which is likely to hit Indian IT companies.

While agreeing on the USD 1.1-trillion spending Bill, Congressional leaders decided to impose the special fee.
"US doubled the visa cost to USD 4,000 for H-1B and other categories of visas, causing substantive cost hardships to the Indian IT industry," said Jimeet Modi, CEO, SAMCO Securities.
Meanwhile, the broader market Sensex ended at 25,519.22, down 284.56 points.