New Delhi: IT stocks dropped on Monday, with Infobeans Technologies falling 8 per cent and Hexaware tumbling 7 per cent, amid concerns over the steep hike in US H1B visa fees.

Shares of Infobeans Technologies fell 8.08 per cent, Hexaware Technologies tumbled 7.08 per cent, LTI Mindtree tanked 4.54 per cent, Persistent Systems dropped 4.19 per cent and Tech Mahindra declined 3.20 per cent on the BSE.

The stock of Tata Consultancy Services dipped 3.02 per cent, Infosys edged lower by 2.61 per cent, Wipro declined 2.25 per cent and HCL Tech went down 1.84 per cent.

The BSE IT index declined 2.73 per cent to 34,988.20.

"The correction was led by IT stocks as investor sentiment turned cautious after US President Donald Trump imposed a USD 100,000 fee on new H1B visa applications, a move expected to disrupt India's USD 283 billion IT outsourcing model," Hariprasad K, Research Analyst and Founder, Livelong Wealth, said.

Falling for the second day in a row, the 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 466.26 points or 0.56 per cent to settle at 82,159.97. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 124.70 points or 0.49 per cent to 25,202.35.

US President Donald Trump on Friday signed a proclamation raising the fee on the visas used by companies to hire workers, including from India, to live and work in the US. The H1B visa fee of USD 100,000 would be applicable only to new applicants, a White House official clarified on Saturday. Notably, Indian tech professionals account for bulk of H1Bs -- over 70 per cent plus. “IT was the biggest drag, tumbling 3 per cent after the US sharply raised the one-time H1B visa fee to USD 100,000. This rattled sentiment in a sector that had only recently shown signs of recovery,” Siddhartha Khemka - Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd -- said.

The domestic market traded on a lower note amid a sharp increase in H1B visa costs, which weighed on the IT index, Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.