After opening the day on a positive note, share markets in India have continued the momentum and are trading comfortably above the dotted line. All sectoral indices are trading on a positive note. Stocks in the energy sector and stocks in the capital goods sector are leading the gains.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 222 points (up 0.8%), and the NSE Nifty is trading up by 68 points (up 0.7%). Meanwhile, the BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 1%, while the BSE Small Cap index is trading up by 0.9%. The rupee is trading at 64.24 to the US$.

In news from stocks in the IT sector. IT industry body Nasscom hit back against the US administration’s allegations of cheating by TCS and Infosys in gaming the lottery system for H-1B visas. The industry body said that the two companies together received only 8.8% of the H-1B visas approved in FY 2015.

Nasscom said the White House statement that Indian companies had secured the lion’s share of H-1B visas was factually incorrect as only six of the top 20 H-1B recipients were Indian companies in 2015.

The US administration has been pushing for a change in rules for H-1B visas on the grounds that it was being misused by IT firms to bring cheap workers to replace American jobs.

The IT industry body said that all Indian IT companies cumulatively account for less than 20% of the total approved H-1B visas; however, Indian nationals get 71% the H-1B visas. Exemplifying the high skill levels of Indian nationals rather than adoption of unfair means by Indian IT majors.

A Nasscom survey also found that the average wage for visa holders is over $82,000 apart from a fixed cost of about $15,000 incurred for each visa issued which includes visa cost and related expenses. This is over 35% higher than the minimum prescribed exempt wage of $60,000.

Meanwhile, the US has said that it greatly values investments by Indian companies and wants to see bilateral business ties remain strong, days after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley raised the issue of tightening of the H-1B visa regime.