Where is the market headed?
The week began on a very confusing note. The first news that came out from the US administration said that H1B visas would be hit with a $100,000 fee per year, and people outside the US needed to return by 22nd midnight. This created huge chaos around the world. There were even reports that some people walked out of planes they had boarded in San Francisco because they thought they would not be able to return by the due date.
Thankfully, by Sunday evening, there was confirmation that this does not impact old H1B visas. The change would only apply to new H1B visas in the next lottery starting in 2026. The fee will be charged to the companies applying for H1B visas, not directly to employees, so as long as firms support their staff, individuals are safe. But the confusion raised wider worries. People started asking what happens if renewals are not done, which firms depend heavily on onsite projects, and which rely more on offshore business.
Then came another report saying the US administration was considering taxing American companies that offshore work. While this is not yet official, the idea is that if companies shift from onsite to offshore, the government might impose an offshore tax. If this happens, it will hurt not just Indian IT firms but also US corporations themselves. Hopefully, this is just a negotiation tactic, especially since Mr. Piyush Goyal is currently in the US to close some India–US deals. But such talk has made the world see how unpredictable US policies can be.
Market Overview
Coming to the markets, despite all this noise, there was no big collapse today. Nifty fell only 0.5%, showing strong resilience.
Nifty Next 50
Nifty Junior even gained 0.32%.
Nifty Mid and Small Cap
Midcaps were down 0.56% and smallcaps by 0.9%, taking the bigger hit but still within the four-month trading range.
Bank Nifty
Bank Nifty also slipped just 0.31%. Clearly, the market absorbed the weekend confusion without panic.
GOLD
The big story though is gold. In INR terms, gold rose 1.29% today, touching ₹11,200 per gram. Just a month back in August, it was at ₹9,800. That means a 14% jump in one month, equal to its average yearly return. Gold is not topping yet; it is signaling that it wants to go higher.
Advance Decline Ratio
Advance-decline trends, however, were weak. The day ended with 152 advances versus 349 declines, showing profit booking across many stocks.
Heat Maps
Pharma fell as concerns grew whether the US might target that sector next. FMCG also struggled. Reliance and SBI slipped, Tata Motors was down despite car-related benefits, and several names like Dabur, LTIM, and Swiggy also corrected.
Mover Of The Day
On the other hand, Adani stocks surged after a clean chit, with Adani Total Gas jumping nearly 20%.
Sectoral Overview
On the sectoral front, energy, commodities, and media saw mild gains, mainly due to Adani strength. But IT was the worst hit, falling 3%, along with pharma and capital markets. Still, IT stocks only fell 2–3% each, much less than expected if the US policy were a serious long-term blow.
Sector of the Day
Nifty IT Index
Tweets Of the Day
A very important tweet also stood out today. RBI chief Mr. Malhotra openly said India wants to build infrastructure to trade beyond USD-INR. For the first time, the administration is clearly saying that the US dollar cannot dominate forever. In fact, US Treasury holdings in central bank reserves have now gone below gold, marking a real shift in global finance.
So, while IT stocks are bruised, the damage is contained for now. Much depends on whether the US really moves ahead with taxing offshore business. Until then, markets remain resilient, gold continues to shine, and the global order keeps shifting before our eyes.
Gold continues to hold its purchasing power across generations. Globally, one ounce of gold has often equaled the cost of one good suit, and that balance has remained stable over decades.
