The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex on Thursday climbed 106.75 points, making gains for the third consecutive day. The National Stock Exchange Nifty ended 26.55 points higher, crossing the 8,400-mark for the first time since November 11.
Information technology stocks saw an increase amid hopes that United States President-elect Donald Trump may not proceed with stringent H-1B visa rules. “Something was expected to be announced in relation to this by Trump on Wednesday and that did not happen, so the market took the positive cues,” said KK Mital, vice president of Venus India told Reuters.
Infosys Ltd, which was up by 2.26%, led the Nifty IT index to rise by 1.6%. Oracle Financial Services went up by 2.15%, Reuters added. However, pharma stocks fell on Thursday after Trump said that drug makers were “getting away with murder” in his address on Wednesday. Nifty Pharma index went down by 2.24%, whereas Cadila Healthcare Ltd was down by 1.91%.
Trump’s attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions had said the new US administration will push for legislative steps to curb the “misuse of H-1B and L1 work visas”. “It’s simply wrong to think that we’re in a totally open world and that any American with a job can be replaced if somebody in the world is willing to take a job for less pay,” said Sessions. The H-1B and L1 work visas are often used by Indian professionals from the information technology sector.
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