Out of the top five losers on the BSE, four are from the IT sector, led by Tech Mahindra, Mindtree, HCL Tech and Hexaware. TCS and Infosys follow on 6th as 7th top losers. The BSE IT Index is down currently almost 3%.

Fears have once again re-emerged on the US H1-B visa row. Yesterday, California Republican Darrell Issa re-introduced a bill aimed at cracking down on the H-1B visa abuse by making major amendments to the existing program, allowing only highly skilled foreign employees work in the US.

The bill has recommended a hike in the minimum salary of H-1B employees, and elimination of the masters’ quota/cap. The lawmakers have proposed an increase of $100,000 in the annual salary of H-1B employees.

The argument given is that the new amendments will help in cracking down on visa abuse by companies that hire average workforce from other countries for cheap salary, thus depriving American jobs.

USA is the biggest outsourcing market for India and such a bill for the Indian IT could mean a big blow. But then again, this is not new, this news of H1-B visa has been around for a couple of years now and all knew that once Trump takes charge, the rhetoric will only go up. Thus today, thanks to the media going on and on about this has created a sense of panic and thus the collapse of the IT stocks.