GIFT Nifty hints at muted start for equities; IT stocks in focus after US hikes H1-B visa fee

GIFT Nifty:

GIFT Nifty September 2025 futures were trading with a cut of 33 points (or 0.13%) in early trade, indicating a possible muted start for the Nifty 50 today.

Institutional Flows:

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 390.74 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2,105.22 crore in the Indian equity market on 19 September 2025, provisional data showed.

According to public data, FPIs have sold shares worth Rs 10,571.65 crore in the cash market in so far in September 2025. This follows their cash sales of shares worth Rs 46,902.92 crore in August 2025.

Global Markets:

Asia market traded mostly higher Monday as investors assessed China?s key lending rate decision.

China?s Central Bank kept the loan prime rates (LPR) unchanged for the fourth month in a row. The decision to stand pat comes after the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered its rates by 25 basis points last week.

The People?s Bank of China kept the one-year LPR unchanged at 3.0% while the five-year LPR remained at 3.5%, according to a statement Monday.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, opens new tab on worker visas kept sentiment in check.

The focus will be on Indian and tech stocks after the Trump administration said on Friday it would ask companies to make a one-time payment of $100,000 for new H-1B worker visas, a blow to the tech sector that relies on skilled workers from India and China.

US stocks notched fresh highs on Friday amid a record-setting rally as the US and China advanced trade talks and the ?magnificent seven? tech stocks continued to climb.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% and the S&P 500 jumped nearly 0.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite led gains, adding about 0.7%, as Apple stock rallied on optimism over its new iPhones hitting store shelves.

Investors on Friday were focused on details from Trump's conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The US president said in a post on Truth Social following the talks, We made progress on many very important issues including Trade, Fentanyl, the need to bring the War between Russia and Ukraine to an end, and the approval of the TikTok Deal.

Domestic Market:

The domestic equity benchmarks ended lower on Friday, breaking a three-session winning run that was driven by optimism over potential U.S. Federal Reserve rate cuts and progress in trade talks between India and the U.S.

The Nifty settled below the 25,350 mark as selling in private banks and IT stocks weighed on sentiment. However, buying interest was seen in PSU banks, realty, and energy counters, which helped limit the overall losses.

The S&P BSE Sensex tanked 387.73 points or 0.47% to 82,626.23. The Nifty 50 index fell 96.55 points or 0.38% to 25,327.05. In the past three sessions, the Sensex added 1.50% while the Nifty gained 1.41%.

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