Sensex Jumps 430 Points Despite US Green Card Freeze as TCS Shares Gain Over Four Percent

UPDATE - follow-up to India News Live Updates, 9 October 2026: TCS downplays US green card move, markets brace for impact: Indian market indices Sensex and Nifty opened in the green on Friday morning despite a US crackdown on a green card programme that is set to adversely affect Indian IT firms. Sensex registered a rise of 430 points in early trade, while Nifty went up by 128 points to trade at 22,362. Tata Consultancy Services shares rose by 3.5 per cent to reach Rs 2,149.10 on Friday amid accelerating AI-related revenue and growth in its international business. Major tech and IT outsourcing firms hit by the US administration move include Cognizant, Infosys, Tata, Wipro, HCL, Capgemini, Microsoft and Adobe. The US government announced the suspension of the Permanent Labour Certification Programme for several large Indian IT firms, citing alleged fraud and claiming foreign workers got jobs at the cost of Americans. The programme is a key stage for skilled foreign workers and H-1B visa holders to gain employment-based green cards. Tata Consultancy Services Limited stated on Friday that it does not expect the suspension to have any material impact on its workforce strategy or client engagements. The company noted that its PERM applications were in single digits over the last two years. TCS added that its workforce strategy in the US relies on hiring local talent and a campus recruitment model across 31 offices and delivery centres, with plans to hire 15,000 additional people in the US over the next five years. Meanwhile, political tensions flared over the development. Congress leader Pawan Khera criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, alleging that the Prime Minister allowed US President Donald Trump to bully him instead of taking a firm stand. Khera claimed that high H-1B fees and the PERM suspension make it harder for Indian companies to sponsor permanent residency for professionals, and stated that Rahul Gandhi has advised the Prime Minister to stand his ground. In other domestic news, Friday brings vote counting for five Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha constituency across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry. The contests cover Nandigram and Rejinagar in West Bengal, Madurantakam and Dharapuram in Tamil Nadu, Thattanchavady in Puducherry and the Nagaon Lok Sabha seat in Assam to test the BJP, Congress and regional parties. Early trends in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry showed leads for ruling regimes led by Chief Minister N Rangasamy and Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay. Concurrently, Delhi police deployed 23,000 Central forces personnel and five all-women paramilitary companies, closed liquor vends for two days, and restricted hotel room bookings in Central Delhi amid continuing protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar ahead of a planned opposition protest on October 10.

Context

The Permanent Labour Certification Program is a key administrative step enabling employers to sponsor foreign workers for permanent US residency. The US immigration system heavily relies on specialized visa categories like H-1B, making regulatory changes a major factor for India's massive technology export sector.