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Informist, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025                                      Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

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Equity Alert: Most IT cos down post US proposal to change H-1B visa process

 

MUMBAI--1002 IST--Information technology stocks fell in early trade Wednesday as investors assessed changes proposed by the US for the application of H-1B visas. At 0958 IST, Tech Mahindra, Coforge, Mphasis, and Persistent Systems were down 1-2%. HCL Technologies was the only IT stock in the green, recovering after starting the session lower. The Nifty IT was down 0.7% at 34996.90 points and was the worst hit among sectoral indices.

 

The US' Department of Homeland Security Tuesday proposed changing the selection process for H-1B visas to wage-based weighted selection from the existing lottery system. These proposed changes are for applications exceeding the statuatory limit of 85,000. Workers in the highest of the four wage levels, earning an annual salary of $162,528 or above, would be entered into the selection pool four times and those at the lowest tier would be entered only once, according to a proposal by the Homeland Security Department. 

 

While analysts see this move affecting hiring of freshers by Indian IT companies, they expect these companies to mitigate these challenges through various steps. "We believe Indian IT will partially mitigate it through offshore hiring , local hiring and near shoring, going ahead," ICICI Direct Research said in a report. It is also to be noted that it might take months, or even years, for the new proposals to come into effect.  (Akash Mandal)

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Equity Alert: Indices open lower, dragged down by IT, auto stocks 

 

MUMBAI--0943 IST--Benchmark equity indices opened lower Wednesday, primarily dragged down by a decline in automobile and information technology stocks. The sentiment in the market has been weak after the US announced a hike in the fee for H-1B visa petitions. In the latest update, the US Department of Homeland Security has proposed replacing the system to select H-1B visa candidates through a wage-based process compared to the current lottery system. 

 

At 0939 IST, the Nifty 50 was at 25072.80 points, down 96.70 points or 0.4%. The BSE Sensex was at 81781.87 points, down 320.23 points or 0.4%. The weakness in the 50-stock index was due to sell-off in index heavyweights such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries, which has more than 30% weightage in the index. 

 

Large-cap automobile stocks Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, and Bajaj Auto fell over 1?ch. These stocks have been gaining sharply in recent weeks, especially after the goods and services tax rejig was announced. Analysts turned bullish on the segment on expectations of a rise in sales volumes, as the vehicles become much cheaper after the tax cut, with most automobile companies passing on the full benefits to the customers. Barring Maruti Suzuki India, all other Nifty Auto constituents were in the red in early trade. 

 

Market participants turned negative on IT companies after the US government hiked the fee for H-1B visa applications to $100,000. Now the US government suggests taking in H-1B visa applications based on the wage-based process, with the aim of selecting only "higher paid and "higher skilled" candidates for jobs in the US, as per a document on the Federal Register website. Large-caps such as Tech Mahindra, Wipro, and HCL Technologies were down nearly 1-2%. The Nifty IT index faced selling pressure the most and was down nearly 1%. The index had closed lower for the last three sessions. 

 

State-owned banks were higher, with Indian Bank and Canara Bank gaining 1?ch. Some metal stocks also gained. Hindustan Copper and Jindal Stainless were up nearly 1% and 1.3%, respectively. Among individual stocks, Minda Corp. gained over 8?ter the company said it targets a revenue of INR 175 billion over five years and also plans to spend INR 20 billion as capital expenditure.  (Gopika Balasubramanium)

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Equity Alert: Emkay Global ups Hindalco rating to 'buy' on strong financials

 

MUMBAI--0824 IST--Emkay Global Financial Services upgraded its rating of Hindalco Industries to 'buy' from 'reduce' and increased the target price on the stock by 38% to INR 900. The brokerage said rising aluminium prices and Hindalco's 'industry leading cost curve' is likely to benefit the company's financials and it may result in re-rating of valuations. 

 

Emkay Global said in its report that the company is likely to benefit from its relatively lower cost of production, which stands at $1,700 per tonne compared to an average of $2,300 per tonne in China. "We see this working favourably for cash flow generation, with the company generating consolidated operating cash flow of INR 300bn (300 billion) per annum, which is sufficient for planned capital allocation decisions," the brokerage said. 

 

The company's subsidiary, Novelis, is likely to see improvement in its margins by 2027-28 (Apr-Mar) to $480 per tonne when the Bay Minette project is fully operational. The Bay Minette project is a 600,000-tonne capacity greenfield rolling and recycling facility being built by Novelis, in Bay Minette, Alabama, US, at a cost of approximately $4.1 billion. According to the Novelis' website, the project is expected to be operational by the September quarter of 2026. 

 

Emkay Global raised its estimates for the company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation by 3.1% for FY27 and by 3.5% FY28. Talking about the risks to the company, the brokerage said "higher prices could catalyze a countercyclical industry-level capital allocation indiscipline, resulting in a wave of new supply and easing of Russian sanctions could weaken the cost curve support." (P. Madhu Kumar)

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Equity Alert: Nuvama ups CESC rtg to buy on recovery, robust growth drivers

MUMBAI--0816 IST--Nuvama Institutional Equities has upgraded its rating on CESC to 'buy' from 'hold' following the company's plans of re-growth after a slow period. The brokerage also raised its target price on the stock to INR 200 from INR 187, implying a potential upside of 20% from its previous close. Tuesday, the stock had closed 0.8% lower at INR 166.84. 

 

While the stock's current price captures recent tariff hikes and recovery in regulatory assets, valuations underplay the strong renewable energy pipeline and solar manufacturing initiatives of the company, Nuvama said in a report. A potential win in the upcoming privatisation bids for Uttar Pradesh-based distribution companies could add a new growth driver, it added. 

 

The electricity distributor aims to double its profits to INR 28 billion during 2024-25 (Apr-Mar) to FY30 by adding renewable energy capacities, targetting a capacity of 10 gigawatt by FY32, the brokerage said. Of the 3.2 GW capacity the company plans to add by FY29, 2 GW will be supplied to the company's own discoms in Kolkata and Noida, the brokerage said. The company's renewable energy vertical is now also ready to participate in tenders for hybrid, firm and dispatchable renewable energy, and solar plus battery energy storage systems with the likes of NTPC and Solar Energy Corp. of India. 

 

CESC will also set up a 3 GW solar cell and module-manufacturing ecosystem by FY27 at a capex of INR 30 billion, which will be another growth driver while securing captive supply of cells and modules, Nuvama said.  (Akash Mandal)

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Equity Alert: Asian indices fall tracking decline in US market; Kospi down 1%

 

MUMBAI--0806 IST--Asian equity indices were down in early trade Wednesday, tracking an overnight fall in the US market. US indices fell after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell Tuesday said "equity prices are fairly highly valued". He also suggested that a decision on further cuts in interest rates would be taken on the basis of inflation levels and conditions in the labour market.

 

South Korea's Kospi fell 1% in early trade but the decline was limited by defence stocks as shares of Hanwha Aerospace, Korea Aerospace Industries, and Hyundai Rotem gained 1-5%. The gains followed US President Donald Trump's statement that US would continue to supply weapons to member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

 

Australia's S&P/ASX200 was down 1%. The country's consumer price index inflation was 3% on year in August, higher than the market estimate of 2.9% and up from 2.8% in July.

 

China's blue-chip CSI 300 index was flat, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was marginally higher. Super typhoon Ragasa disrupted weather conditions in the region, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.

 

Following were the levels of key Asian indices at 0758 IST:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
CSI 300 Index	4513.86	(-)0.13
Hang Seng Index	26187.80	0.11
Nikkei 225 Day	45311.77	(-)0.40
TOPIX FIRST SECTION	3158.33	(-)0.15
KOSPI	3449.78	(-)1.04
FTSE Singapore Straits Times	4298.20	(-)0.10
S&P/ASX 200 Index	8759.20	(-)0.98

 

(Eshitva Prakash)

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Equity Alert: Market seen in a range; H-1B visa change proposal in focus

 

MUMBAI--0753 IST--Benchmark indices are likely to open slightly lower and move in a narrow range Wednesday as the market will wait for fresh triggers. Investors will now await developments on a potential trade deal between India and the US, as this is likely to direct the outlook for the market in the near term, analysts said. The Nifty 50 is likely to move in a range of 25100–25400 points during the session.

 

The market is also likely to react to US' latest proposal to change the selection process for H-1B visa applications exceeding the statutory limit of 85,000. The US Department of Homeland Security late Tuesday proposed to amend its regulations governing the process of H-1B visa registrations by implementing a weighted selection process that would favour the allocation of these visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid workers rather than the current lottery system.

 

Information technology stocks will be in focus following the proposal. However, the overall market is still likely to remain range-bound. "The broader markets have entered a cooling period following the recent vertical rally...despite this shift, the underlying sentiment remains positive, suggesting that market corrections should be regarded as opportunities for long positions," Osho Krishan, senior analyst - technical and derivatives at Angel One, said in a note.

 

The September contract of the GIFT Nifty indicated a lower start for the market. It was down 29 points at 25187 points at 0749 IST. On Tuesday, the Nifty 50 closed at 25169.50 points, down 32.85 points or 0.1%. The BSE Sensex ended at 82102.10 points, down 57.87 points or 0.1%.

 

Overnight, indices in the US ended lower following three straight sessions of hitting record highs. According to a Reuters report, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank needs to balance inflation concerns with a weakening jobs market in its coming interest rate decisions. All Asian indices, barring Indonesia's IDX Composite, were lower in early trade Wednesday.  (Akash Mandal)

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Equity Alert: US indices end dn; Fed Powell warns US equities 'highly valued'

 

MUMBAI--0720 IST--Indices in the US retreated from record high levels to close lower Tuesday as US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the apex bank needed to balance out risks of high inflation and a weakening job market. Powell also said "there is no risk-free path" and that the near-term risks to inflation are tilted to the higher side and risks to employment to the downside. Powell's speech in Rhode Island also suggested that US equities were "fairly highly valued," according to media reports.

 

"He (Jerome Powell) was somewhat on the dovish side, but also showed cautiousness, and that indicates that while he left the door open for another rate cut, there was really no hint of when and how much the next rate cut could be," Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities, was quoted by Reuters as saying. 

 

S&P Global's flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index slipped to 53.6, a three-month low, in September from 54.6 in August. Both manufacturing and services flash purchasing managers' index also fell. The manufacturing flash PMI slipped to 52.0 in September from 53.0 in August. The services flash PMI was also down, at 53.9 from 54.5 in August.

 

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended 1% lower as shares of Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon fell 1-3%. Shares of Nvidia also fell nearly 3?ter sharp gains in the previous session on the back of its large deal with OpenAI. 

 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2%. Traders await the personal consumption expenditures price index data, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge. The inflation print is due for release Friday.

 

Following are the closing levels of US indices Tuesday:

 

Index	Level	Change in %
S&P 500	6656.92	(-)0.55
NASDAQ Composite	22573.47	(-)0.95
Dow Jones Industrial Average	46292.78	(-)0.19

 

(Eshitva Prakash)

 

End

 

US$1 = INR 88.70

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

All prices from National Stock Exchange, unless otherwise specified.

All percentage changes for share prices are rounded off to the nearest whole number; percentage changes for index values are rounded off to one decimal place.

All times are Indian Standard Time.

 

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