Key gauges extend losses to sixth consecutive session

Indian equity benchmarks tumbled nearly 1 per cent on Friday, marking their sixth consecutive day of decline, following heavy selling in Telecom, IT and Healthcare shares. Most pharma shares dropped after Trump's move to impose 100 per cent import tariffs on pharmaceutical drugs from October 1. Relentless foreign fund outflows and US H-1B visa fee concerns also added to the bearish trend in domestic equities.   

Some of the important factors in trade: 

India's resilience stands out amid increased global uncertainties: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's resilience stands out due to its strong macroeconomic fundamentals amid increasing global uncertainties.

India's logistics cost estimated at 7.97% of GDP: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) report said that the country's logistics cost is estimated at 7.97 per cent of India's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023-24.

India, US trade pact talks continue: The Commerce Ministry said India and the US have discussed various aspects of the proposed trade agreement, and both sides have decided to continue their engagements to achieve early conclusion of a mutually beneficial trade pact. 

ESIC adds 20.36 lakh employees in July: Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has added 20.36 lakh subscribers in July 2025, registering a growth of over 5 per cent compared to June this year, the latest payroll data released by the labour ministry showed. 

Global front: European markets were trading higher despite U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff threats. Asian markets settled mostly down as investors waited key U.S. inflation reading for more clues on the outlook for rates.

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 733.22 points or 0.90% to 80,426.46 and the CNX Nifty was down by 236.15 points or 0.95% to 24,654.70.     

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 81,033.09 and 80,332.41 respectively. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.   

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.96%, while Small cap index was down by 2.05%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom down by 2.69%, IT down by 2.41%, Consumer Durables down by 2.34%, Healthcare down by 2.14% and TECK down by 2.03%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE. 

The top gainers on the Sensex were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.38%, Tata Motors up by 1.32%, ITC up by 1.21% and Reliance Industries up by 0.39%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.70%, Eternal down by 3.39%, Tata Steel down by 2.81%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.75% and Sun Pharma down by 2.55% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Crisil Intelligence in its note has said that US President Donald Trump's move to levy higher fees for granting the H-1B visas will impact Indian IT majors' profit margins by only 0.20%. This is because the reliance of IT companies on H-1B visas has been reducing since 2018, when the denial rates for the visa applications increased to 24%. It said ‘The US decision to impose a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas for foreign workers will snip just 10-20 basis points from the operating margins of Indian information technology (IT) services companies next fiscal’.

It said these companies, which had operating margins of 22% in FY25, are likely to share the incremental cost with clients, and added that the pass-through is estimated at 30-70%. It noted that IT firms have expanded offshore delivery, opened near shore centres and hired locally in the US, and added that this trend has continued even as the denial rate eased to 3% in 2024. Citing official US data, it said the number of Indian employees on H-1B visas working for TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Technologies almost halved from 34,507 to 17,997 between 2017 and 2025.

It said India's IT services industry is expected to reel in $143-145 billion this fiscal year, marking a revenue growth of 2-4% over last fiscal year, and added that from next fiscal year, growth is expected to be only marginal or flat. It also said between October 2023 and September 2024, total H-1B visas issued for four IT companies, which account for 50% of the industry revenue, stood at 34,507, and added that over 35% was for initial employment and 65% for continuing employment. It further said the share of initial employment is expected to decline over the medium term.

It said visa expenses come at 0.02-0.05% of the total employee cost, with H-1B visa fees ranging between $2,000 and $5,000 per person. Over a third of the approved H-1B applications from October 2023 to September 2024 were for initial employment and if this share remains constant next fiscal year, the new fee structure could crank up visa cost to 1% of total employee cost. If the share is reduced, visa-related costs are expected to remain 0.3-0.6% of the total employee cost. Tier-1 IT companies such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCL generate 96% of their revenue from the international markets, with the US alone accounting for 53%. Last fiscal year, the industry exported $119 billion in services, reflecting its scale in global outsourcing.

The CNX Nifty touched high and low of 24,868.60 and 24,629.45 respectively. There were 6 stocks advancing against 44 stocks declining on the index.  

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.71%, Tata Motors up by 1.45%, ITC up by 1.22%, Eicher Motors up by 0.70% and Reliance Industries up by 0.48%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 3.88%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.68%, Tata Steel down by 2.92%, Eternal down by 2.81% and Bajaj Finance down by 2.74% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 30.62 points or 0.33% to 9,244.60, France’s CAC rose 21.38 points or 0.27% to 7,816.80 and Germany’s DAX gained 63.37 points or 0.27% to 23,598.20.