By Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M
(Reuters) -India’s equity benchmarks declined for the fifth straight session on Thursday, marking their longest losing streak in more than six months, as IT stocks slumped after persistent foreign outflows in the wake of U.S. visa curbs kept investors on edge.
The Nifty 50 slipped 0.66% to 24,890.85 and the BSE Sensex eased 0.68% to 81,159.68 to log their longest losing run since early March.
The Nifty and Sensex fell 2.1% and 2.2% in five sessions.
On the day, fifteen of the 16 major sectors declined, while small-cap and mid-cap indexes shed 0.6% each.
IT index lost 5.6%, leading the sectoral decline so far this week. On the day, it fell 1.3%.
Investor sentiment weakened after the U.S. announced a $100,000 fee for fresh H-1B visa applications earlier this month, raising concerns about higher costs for Indian IT firms which draw a large share of their revenue from the country.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that U.S. lawmakers are scrutinising the H‑1B visa usage of big tech firms, including Amazon and Apple.
“Markets run on hope, but any rebound hinges on U.S. trade talks while visa issues have also weighed on sentiment,” said Arun Kejriwal, founder of Kejriwal Research and Investment Services.
“With little progress and mostly bravado from the U.S. President, doubts persist that macro moves like tax cuts will deliver the big push that the markets have been waiting for.”
Foreign portfolio investors sold 24.26 billion rupees ($273.43 million) worth of equities on Wednesday, taking net September outflows to $1.32 billion.
Among stocks, Tata Motors dropped 2.7% after the Financial Times reported the company would foot the bill for a major cyberattack at Jaguar Land Rover, with losses potentially exceeding its fiscal 2025 profit.
Bucking the trend, the Nifty metals index gained 0.2%, led by a 6.3% surge in Hindustan Copper. Global copper prices surged after supply was disrupted at metals major Freeport-McMoRan’s Indonesia mine due to a sudden mudflow. [MET/L]
(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
