Top Gainers and Losers on Sep 22: Mphasis, KFIN Tech, Redington, Voltas, Laurus Labs among top losers today

The Indian stock market closed Monday’s session lower, dragged down by a sharp sell-off in tech and pharma stocks. The decline came after the U.S. introduced a new fee structure for fresh H-1B visa applications, which weighed heavily on frontline indices and offset the positive sentiment from the implementation of new GST rates.

The Nifty 50 finished the session 0.50% lower at 25,201, while the S&P BSE Sensex lost 0.56% to settle at 82,159. The broader markets also drifted lower, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 dropping 0.60% and 1.11%, respectively.

The Donald Trump administration on Friday increased the fee for H-1B visas to USD 100,000 from USD 1,000, a steep hike expected to impact the Indian IT sector. Companies could face higher costs and potential delays in deploying skilled workers to the US, with analysts warning that it may also affect the profitability of some mid-tier tech firms.

Meanwhile, new GST rates, approved earlier this month, came into effect today and are expected to boost consumption in the economy, potentially benefiting FMCG, consumer durables, automobiles, and other sectors.

Market experts believe the revised rates, which have lowered retail prices across key categories just ahead of the festive season, will help companies drive volume growth. Many firms have already announced price cuts, with the automobile sector, particularly passenger vehicles, expected to see a revival in demand.

IT stocks lead the losers’ list

Domestic tech stocks bled heavily, with Zensar Technologies, MphasiS, LTIMindtree, Coforge, and Persistent Systems closing with sharp losses between 4.5% and 6% amid concerns that the H-1B visa fee hike could potentially impact company profitability. JM Financial noted that, in a scenario of increased local hiring without offsets, it estimates the margin impact could be 15–50 bps for the top 10 IT services firms.

In a more likely scenario of higher offshoring, the above impact could be completely negated. Financially, therefore, the brokerage views this as neutral, it added.

Alongside tech, pharma stocks also closed with heavy losses, with Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Granules India, and Laurus Labs all falling over 3%. Other stocks, including Triveni Engineering, LT Foods, Sagility, Redington, Hyundai Motor India, and Voltas, also ended the session down by more than 3%.

Adani group stocks rally up to 20%

Adani Group stocks extended their winning momentum, with Adani Power, Adani Total Gas, and Adani Green Energy emerging as top performers in the Nifty 500 index, rallying up to 20%. The gains followed last session’s strong performance after market regulator SEBI gave the conglomerate a clean chit in the Hindenburg case, while positive brokerage upgrades further boosted investor confidence.

Other group stocks, such as Adani Energy Solutions, AWL Agri Business, and Adani Enterprises, closed higher by 6.5%, 5.5%, and 4%, respectively.

The rally in select group stocks was further supported by optimistic views from global brokerage firms. Morgan Stanley recently initiated coverage on Adani Power with an ‘Overweight’ rating. Meanwhile, Jefferies maintained a ‘Buy’ rating on the group’s flagship Adani Enterprises, raising the target price to ₹3,000 — an 18.9% upside from the last close.

The bullish outlook reflects a return of confidence, not only among retail investors but also across global institutional stakeholders, many of whom had largely remained on the sidelines since the Hindenburg-triggered crash.

Netweb Technologies shares closed higher by 7.6% to ₹3,530 following the company securing an order worth around ₹450 crore for the supply of its AI supercomputing systems, according to a regulatory filing on Friday.

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