Sensex falls over 200 pts, Nifty below 25,150 as H-1B visa fee hike concerns cloud investor sentiment

Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty turned lower in early trade Tuesday, giving up initial gains, as strength in auto shares on festive-season demand was outweighed by broad losses tied to concerns over a sharp hike in US H-1B visa fees

The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.13% to 82,266.50, adding 106.53 points, while the NSE Nifty 50 advanced 0.12% to 25,232.85, up 30.50 points. However, the market pared the early gains and slipped into the red soon. At around 9:34 AM, Sensex fell 210 points or 0.26% to 80,949, while Nifty50 slipped 69 pts or 0.27% to trade at 25,133.

On the 30-stock Sensex, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Bajaj Finance led gains, rising between 0.5% and 3%.


Auto stocks drove the advance, with the sector index up 1.8%.

IT shares fell 0.5% after shedding about $10 billion in market value on Monday, after the U.S. imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B applications.

Investor sentiment got a little lift after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed the importance of ties with India during talks with External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Meanwhile, mid-cap and small-cap stocks were flat on the day.

Expert views

The major drag on the market since the 2024 September peak is the sustained FII selling, which, in turn, is being triggered by the high valuations in India and attractive valuations elsewhere, said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, adding that FIIs sold equity worth Rs 1,21,210 crores in 2024 and this year, so far, FIIs have sold equity for Rs 1,79,200 crores through the exchanges.

"The high valuation differential between India and other markets have enabled the FIIs to move money from India to other markets and profit from it. The scenario will change when India’s corporate earnings start improving. Indications of this uptrend in corporate earnings are expected to trickle in with the festival season. Already, there are reports of a sharp spike in bookings for automobiles," said Vijayakumar.

Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, said the market’s gap-down open was followed by a brief recovery before profit-booking dragged indices lower in the second half. Chouhan flagged lower tops on intraday charts and bearish daily candles as signs of further weakness.

"On the downside, it could fall to 25150-25050/82000-81700. On the other hand, 25300/82500 would act as a key resistance area for day traders. If the market manages to trade above this level, it could move towards 25,400–25,425/82800–83000. Current market conditions are volatile; therefore, level-based trading would be the ideal strategy for day traders," said Chouhan.

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Global Markets

Asian equities extended recent gains Tuesday as enthusiasm for artificial intelligence fueled a rally in technology shares, while expectations of further U.S. rate cuts kept gold on a record-setting run.

On Wall Street, major indexes hit fresh highs after Nvidia said it would invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI, with initial data centre equipment set for delivery in the second half of 2026.

The tech-driven surge lifted chipmakers across Asia. South Korea’s benchmark added 0.2% and is up nearly 9% this month. Japan’s Nikkei, shut for a holiday, has advanced 6.5% in September, while Taiwan has risen almost 7%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.3%, taking its monthly rise to 5.5%. Chinese blue chips inched 0.1% higher.

Gold climbed to a new peak above $3,750 an ounce.

FII/DII Tracker

On the institutional front, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net sellers after two sessions of buying, selling equities worth a little over Rs 2,910 crore on September 22, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2,583 crore.

Crude impact

Oil prices fell for a fifth straight session on Tuesday after Iraq and the Kurdish regional government reached a preliminary deal to restart a key pipeline, heightening worries about oversupply.

Brent crude slipped 0.63% to $66.15 a barrel, down 42 cents, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate lost 0.58% to $61.92 a barrel as of 0332 GMT.

Rupee vs Dollar

The Indian rupee fell to a record low on Tuesday, weakening to 88.4850 against the U.S. dollar amid pressure from higher U.S. visa fees, muted foreign equity inflows and increased hedging demand.

The dollar eased in Asian trading as investors parsed Federal Reserve officials’ remarks for signals on the interest-rate outlook, with the dollar index down at 97.31.

(with inputs from agencies)