Stock markets decline in early trade on foreign fund outflows, US H-1B visa fees concern

Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell in early trade on Wednesday as foreign fund outflows and concerns over the steep hike in US H-1B visa fees continue to dent investors' sentiment. The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 380.48 points to 81,721.62 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 106.45 points to 25,063.05. From the Sensex firms, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tata Consultancy Services, Axis Bank, Titan and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the major laggards. However, Trent, NTPC, State Bank of India and Asian Paints were among the gainers. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,551.19 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. "Now a concern in the market globally is the high asset prices. Prices of assets be it stocks, gold, silver, bit coins are high. This concern was articulated by the Fed chief Jerome Powell yesterday in his speech at Rhode Island. Powell reiterated the risks to inflation and employment, too, signalling that the Fed policy, going forward, will be challenging," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei 225 index quoted lower while Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng traded in positive territory. US markets ended lower on Tuesday. "On Dalal Street, sentiment remains under pressure as investors grapple with Trump’s 50 per cent tariff hike on India and his steep USD 1,00,000 one-time H-1B visa fee, which disproportionately impacts Indian professionals," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.28 per cent to USD 67.82 a barrel. On Tuesday, the Sensex ended lower by 57.87 points or 0.07 per cent at 82,102.10. The Nifty dipped 32.85 points or 0.13 per cent to 25,169.50.