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Sept 23 - By Ira Dugal, Editor Financial News, with global Reuters staff

U.S. President Donald Trump's move to drastically hike H-1B visa fees will raise Indian technology firms' costs of hiring workers and providing services in the U.S., forcing them to rethink their operating models. It already set them back by nearly $10 billion in lost market value of their shares on Monday, the first day of trading, after the news, but the impact of the decision could go much beyond that. That's our focus this week.

And the Indian central bank is likely to opt for continuity in its inflation targeting framework. Scroll down for more on that.

THIS WEEK IN ASIA-PACIFIC

The candidates vying to be Japan's next leader

Hardest-hit Vietnam risks losing $25 billion from US tariffs, UN estimates

China cracks down on online content inciting hostility, pessimism

UK, Australia and Canada recognise Palestinian state, Israel condemns decision

Trump says 'bad things' will happen if Afghanistan does not return Bagram air base

A NEW 'MAGA' FRONT

Donald Trump has opened a new front in his fight for MAGA, or 'Make America Great Again', by driving up the fees on H-1B visas, used by foreign tech workers, most notably Indians. Train American workers instead, Trump said, making the announcement.

The decision put the tech industry squarely in the middle of the global trade and immigration tensions, leaving Indian firms rethinking their plans and policymakers calculating the wider hit from Trump's latest salvo.

The initial announcement - which suggested an annual fee of $100,000 on anyone with an H-1B visa entering the U.S. from September 21 compared with just a few thousand dollars previously - sparked panic, with companies asking workers who hold such visas and are overseas to rush back. Travellers cancelled plans and scrambled to find flights to the U.S.

India's foreign ministry said the move could disrupt families, adding that the U.S. and India have both benefited from mobility of skilled workers.

The final version, however, was watered down, imposing a one-time fee on new visas only. Nevertheless, global tech executives have pushed back, warning of rising costs for large companies and startups.

While Amazon AMZN.O uses the largest number of H-1B visas, leading Indian IT services firms are all among the top-10 sponsors of the visas. And Indians are the biggest beneficiaries of these temporary work permits.

Analysts expect the immediate financial impact on margins and profitability to be manageable but warn of rising uncertainties for the sector. Brokerage ICICI Securities pegged the average hit on earnings per share at about 6% while Jefferies estimated it at 4%-13% for different firms based on the nature of business and use of these visas. They did not specify the time period for the profit hit.

Read here to understand the impact on India's IT services model.

In response, the Nifty IT index .NIFTYIT fell 3% on Monday, wiping out nearly $10 billion in market value. The index of IT stocks has been the worst performer among sectoral indices in the Indian market so far this year, down 18% compared to a 6% gain for the benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI.

RIPPLE EFFECTS WILL BECOME EVIDENT LATER

The wider implications of a clampdown on Indian tech workers in the U.S. will only play out over time.

With fewer such professionals welcome in the U.S., wage growth in the domestic industry could be hurt at a time when a squeeze on profitability and increased use of AI have already brought on job cuts.

The sector, which employs 5.67 million people, is a significant driver of demand in the Indian economy.

Citi analysts believe remittance flows from the U.S. could also be impacted over time but added that quantifying the impact is difficult.

Displaced workers could find a home in other countries such as Britain and South Korea, which are looking at easier visa policies to attract talent.

Some analysts believe the visa fee hike may eventually benefit India by increasing offshoring via global capability centres (GCC), used by foreign firms for a range of services from accounting to research, which have powered up the country's services exports in recent years.

The H-1B shock and increasing uncertainty "could accelerate GCC trajectory and lift GCC exports as a share of India’s total services exports over time," said Madhavi Arora, chief economist at Mumbai-headquartered Emkay Global Financial Services.

But this growth also could be short-circuited.

A bill known as the HIRE Act and introduced by U.S. Republican Senator Bernie Moreno has made the industry nervous. Any version of the bill, which proposes taxing companies that hire foreign workers over Americans, could limit the offshoring opportunity.

"If the repercussion of this (H-1B fee increase) is substantial offshoring, it might invite a reaction in terms of service tariffs or offshoring taxes," brokerage house Ambit Capital said in a note.

How will Trump's latest move impact India's tech sector and the broader economy? Write to me at [email protected].

MARKET MATTERS

India's central bank is likely to recommend maintaining the inflation target of 4% for another five years, Reuters reported.

The inflation targeting framework is up for review by March 2026.

The continuation of the target means predictability in the trajectory of interest rates but also leaves room for at least one more cut this year as headline inflation remains within the central bank's target while core inflation has been stickier.

The Reserve Bank of India had sought views on whether the target should be changed from headline inflation to core inflation and if the target band should be different from the current 2%-6%.

With most stakeholders backing the current framework, the central bank is likely to suggest its continuation to the government.

THIS WEEK'S MUST-READ

European Union nations are keeping a close watch on any wildlife export requests from India and, in particular, Vantara, a private zoo run by the philanthropic arm of a conglomerate controlled by Asia's richest family, the Ambanis.

Indian investigators cleared the sanctuary of any wrongdoing this week but its operations continue to draw global scrutiny.

Read here to know why the Spix's macaw, a vivid-blue parrot, found itself in the middle of controversy around Vantara.

(Reporting by Ira Dugal; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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Sept 22 (Reuters) - Indian information technology stocks .NIFTYIT fell 3.6% on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a $100,000 fee on new H-1B visa applications, threatening the sector's long-standing model of rotating skilled workers into the U.S.

The index was the top sectoral loser, dragging the benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI 0.3% lower.

All 10 stocks on the index traded lower, with losses led by Tech Mahindra's TEML.NS 5.8% slump.

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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By Haripriya Suresh and Sai Ishwarbharath B

BENGALURU, Sept 21 (Reuters) - India's $283 billion information technology sector will have to overhaul its decades-old strategy of rotating skilled talent into U.S. projects following U.S. President Donald Trump's move to impose a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visas from Sunday, according to tech veterans, analysts, lawyers and economists.

The sector, which earns about 57% of its total revenue from the U.S. market, has long gained from U.S. work visa programs and the outsourcing of software and business services -- a contentious issue for many Americans who have lost jobs to cheaper workers in India.

India was by far the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71% of approved beneficiaries, while China was a distant second at 11.7%, according to U.S. government data.

Trump's move to reshape the H-1B program will force IT firms with clients such as Apple AAPL.O, JPMorgan Chase JPM.N, Walmart WMT.N, Microsoft MSFT.O, Meta META.O and Alphabet's GOOGL.O Google to pause onshore rotations, accelerate offshore delivery, and ramp up hiring of U.S. citizens and green card holders, experts said.

AMERICAN DREAM SLIPPING AWAY

"The 'American Dream' for aspiring workers will be tough," Ganesh Natarajan, former CEO of IT outsourcer Zensar Technologies, said, adding that he expected firms to restrict cross-border travel and get more work done out of countries such as India, Mexico and the Philippines.

IT firms Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS, Infosys INFY.NS, HCLTech HCLT.NS, Wipro WIPR.NS and Tech Mahindra TEML.NS did not respond to Reuters requests seeking comment.

Industry body Nasscom said the move would "potentially have ripple effects on America's innovation ecosystem" and disrupt business continuity for onshore projects.

"Services exports have finally been dragged into the ongoing global trade and tech war," Emkay Global Chief Economist Madhavi Arora said, adding that it could disrupt the IT sector's onsite-offshore model, pressuring margins, and supply chain.

Most industry watchers expect Trump's move to constrain client-facing roles, hurting IT deal conversion and extending the time taken to scale up tech projects.

"Clients will demand repricing or delay start dates until there is clarity on legal challenges. Some projects will be re-scoped to reduce onshore staffing. Others will shift delivery offshore or near-shore from day one," HFS Research CEO Phil Fersht said.

FUTURE H1-B VISAS FOR CRITICAL ROLES ONLY

Immigration lawyers, who received frantic calls over the weekend due to the chaos and confusion created by Trump's proclamation, in which he accused the IT sector of manipulating the H-1B system, said the new visa fee was steep.

"We expect that companies will become far more selective in deciding which candidates to sponsor, reserving H-1B filings for only the most business-critical roles," Vic Goel, managing partner at U.S. law firm Goel & Anderson said. "This would significantly reduce access to the H-1B program for many skilled foreign nationals and could reshape employer demand."

Before the White House clarified that the order applied only to new applicants and not holders of existing visas or those seeking renewals, companies including Tata Consultancy Services, Eli Lilly LLY.N, Microsoft, JPMorgan, and Amazon AMZN.O advised employees on H-1B visas to stay put or return to the U.S. before Sunday, according to internal messages seen by Reuters, forcing many workers from India and China to abandon travel plans and rush back.

Many immigration lawyers expect Trump's move to be challenged legally soon.

"We are anticipating that several lawsuits will be immediately forthcoming this week," Alcorn Immigration Law CEO Sophie Alcorn said.

The fresh challenge for the Indian IT sector comes as it awaits clarity on a proposed 25% tax on outsourcing payments and struggles with weak revenue growth in its mainstay U.S. market as clients defer non-essential tech spending amid inflationary pressures and tariff uncertainty.

MOVE TO PROPEL GCC GROWTH

Across the board, industry watchers expect Trump's move to accelerate the growth of U.S. firms' global capability centres (GCCs), which have evolved from low-cost offshore back offices to high-value innovation hubs that support operations, finance, research and development.

"Time zone proximity will accelerate GCCs and resourcing in Canada, Mexico, and Latin America, where talent is stable and cost advantages remain," ISG President and Chief AI officer Steven Hall said. "GCCs in India will also continue to rise with broader capabilities and skills as enterprises shift strategic roles to India."

India, currently home to more than half of the world's GCCs, is projected to host more than 2,200 companies by 2030, with a market size nearing $100 billion and generating up to 2.8 million jobs, according to a Nasscom-Zinnov report released last year.

Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research founder and chairman Ray Wang expects Trump's move to lead to more GCCs in India, more local hiring in the U.S., more pressure to deliver automation and AI at the same time, less outsourcing, fewer H-1B visas and less job mobility.

"We are seeing a new world order on services economics," Wang said.

(Reporting by Haripriya Suresh, Sai Ishwarbharath B, Rishika Sadam, Abhirami G and Urvi Manoj Dugar, Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Hugh Lawson)

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Recasts paragraph 1, adds Amazon in paragraphs 6, 9

By Aditya Soni, Kristina Cooke and Jeff Mason

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The Trump administration said on Friday it would ask companies to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B worker visas, prompting some big tech companies to warn visa holders to stay in the U.S. or quickly return.

The change could deal a big blow to the technology sector that relies heavily on skilled workers from India and China.

Since taking office in January, Trump has kicked off a wide-ranging immigration crackdown, including moves to limit some forms of legal immigration. The step to reshape the H-1B visa program represents his administration's most high-profile effort yet to rework temporary employment visas.

"If you're going to train somebody, you're going to train one of the recent graduates from one of the great universities across our land," said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Train Americans. Stop bringing in people to take our jobs."

Trump's threat to crack down on H-1B visas has become a major flashpoint with the tech industry, which contributed millions of dollars to his presidential campaign.

Microsoft MSFT.O, JPMorgan JPM.N and Amazon AMZN.O responded to the announcement by advising employees holding H-1B visas to remain in the United States, according to internal emails reviewed by Reuters.

They advised employees on the H-1B visas who were outside the U.S. to return before midnight on Saturday (0400 GMT on Sunday), when the new fee structures are set to take effect.

"H-1B visa holders who are currently in the U.S. should remain in the U.S. and avoid international travel until the government issues clear travel guidance," read an email sent to JPMorgan employees by Ogletree Deakins, a company that handles visa applications for the U.S. investment bank.

Microsoft, JPMorgan, law firm Ogletree Deakins, which represents the bank on the issue, and Amazon AMZN.O did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Critics of the H-1B program, including many U.S. technology workers, argue that it allows firms to suppress wages and sideline Americans who could do the jobs. Supporters, including Tesla TSLA.O CEO and former Trump ally Elon Musk, say it brings in highly skilled workers essential to filling talent gaps and keeping firms competitive. Musk, himself a naturalized U.S. citizen born in South Africa, has held an H-1B visa.

Some employers have exploited the program to hold down wages, disadvantaging U.S. workers, according to the executive order Trump signed on Friday.

The number of foreign science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workers in the U.S. more than doubled between 2000 and 2019 to nearly 2.5 million, even as overall STEM employment only increased 44.5% during that time, it said.

MOVE COULD DETER GLOBAL TALENT

Adding new fees "creates disincentive to attract the world's smartest talent to the U.S.," said Deedy Das, partner at venture capital firm Menlo Ventures, on X. "If the U.S. ceases to attract the best talent, it drastically reduces its ability to innovate and grow the economy."

The move could add millions of dollars in costs for companies, which could hit smaller tech firms and start-ups particularly hard.

Reuters was not immediately able to establish how the fee would be administered. Lutnick said the visa would cost $100,000 a year for each of the three years of its duration but that the details were "still being considered."

Under the current system, entering the lottery for the visa requires a small fee and, if approved, subsequent fees could amount to several thousand dollars.

Some analysts suggested the fee may force companies to move some high-value work overseas, hampering America's position in the high-stakes artificial intelligence race with China.

"In the short term, Washington may collect a windfall; in the long term, the U.S. risks taxing away its innovation edge, trading dynamism for short-sighted protectionism," said eMarketer analyst Jeremy Goldman.

INDIA ACCOUNTS FOR MOST H-1B VISAS

India was the largest beneficiary of H-1B visas last year, accounting for 71% of approved beneficiaries, while China was a distant second at 11.7%, according to government data.

In the first half of 2025, Amazon.com AMZN.O and its cloud-computing unit, AWS, had received approval for more than 12,000 H-1B visas, while Microsoft MSFT.O and Meta Platforms META.O had over 5,000 H-1B visa approvals each.

Lutnick said on Friday that "all the big companies are on board" with $100,000 a year for H-1B visas.

"We've spoken to them," he said.

Many large U.S. tech, banking and consulting companies declined to comment or did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Indian embassy in Washington and the Chinese Consulate General in New York also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions CTSH.O, an IT services company that relies extensively on H-1B visa holders, closed down nearly 5%. U.S.-listed shares of Indian tech firms Infosys INFY.K and Wipro WIT.N closed between 2% and 5% lower.

IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director of the American Immigration Council, questioned the legality of the new fees. "Congress has only authorized the government to set fees to recover the cost of adjudicating an application," he said on Bluesky.

The H-1B program offers 65,000 visas annually to employers bringing in temporary foreign workers in specialized fields, with another 20,000 visas for workers with advanced degrees.

Nearly all the visa fees have to be paid by the employers. The H-1B visas are approved for a period of three to six years.

Trump also signed an executive order on Friday to create a "gold card" for individuals who can afford to pay $1 million for U.S. permanent residency.

(Reporting by Aditya Soni and Kristina Cooke in San Francisco, Jeff Mason in Washington and Siddharth Cavale and Nupur Anand in New York; Additional reporting by Reuters bureaus, Gnaneshwar Rajan and Preetika Parashuraman in Bengaluru and Greg Bensinger in San Francisco; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Tom Hogue)

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The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are their own. Refiles to add correct topic code.

By Una Galani and Shritama Bose

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI, Sept 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - In recent years, India has enjoyed a virtuous cycle. The fast growth and unusual stability of its $4 trillion economy has boosted the country’s confidence and standing in the world. But Donald Trump’s trade war and desire to bring jobs back to the United States could quickly undermine what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called “India’s moment”.

The U.S. president’s decision to raise tariffs on imports of Indian goods to 50% puts the country at a competitive disadvantage to Asian peers and hurts its manufacturing ambitions. However, given that all overseas shipments generate just 11% of Indian GDP, the economy can absorb the blow. A greater threat is that deteriorating relations with the U.S. impact the country’s IT services industry which has played a leading role in India’s transformation over the past two decades.

Providing services to global companies including JPMorgan JPM.N, Goldman Sachs GS.N and Exxon Mobil XOM.N has created massive wealth, spurred the rise of major cities like Hyderabad and Bengaluru, and created the wall of money that has propelled the stock market, property prices, and the consumption of well-heeled Indians.

The two countries have resumed trade negotiations but New Delhi has limited bargaining chips. India is too poor for Modi to open its market to U.S. agricultural imports or to promise hundreds of billions of dollars of investment in the world’s biggest economy, as Japan has done. Meanwhile, India’s loose grip on supply chains means it cannot follow China’s lead by withholding exports of rare earths or other items.

Policymakers, industrialists and financiers in New Delhi and Mumbai are sympathetic to Modi’s position. They are also hopeful that Washington will quickly soften its stance to avoid pushing the South Asian country into the orbit of the People’s Republic. The alternative is too grim to contemplate.

A FINE BALANCE

Start with tariffs. If the 50% U.S. levy remains in place, it could wipe up to 0.6% off India’s GDP growth in the current financial year to the end of March, says V. Anantha Nageswaran, the nation’s chief economic adviser. Deduct this figure from the lower end of official forecasts and growth would shrink to 5.7%.

That’s unwelcome, but manageable. The tariff applies to only 13% of the $437 billion goods India shipped overseas last year, because pharmaceutical products and electronic items like Apple AAPL.O iPhones are exempt. Even so, Trump’s levy would lead to significant job losses because it makes goods from employment-intensive sectors like auto parts, gems, jewellery, and textiles unviable for export to the U.S.

A lower growth rate would leave India short of the minimum 6% annual pace New Delhi was targeting for the next decade, and well short of its potential of 8% or more. However, India could retain its status as the world’s fastest-growing large economy, ahead of China.

An attack on India’s services industry would be more severe. A sharp reduction of IT exports could lead to rocketing inflation and trigger a currency crisis because of the crucial balancing effect services exports have on India’s finances.

Services are an obvious if complicated target. Firms led by Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS, Infosys INFY.NS and Wipro WIPR.NS generate up to 60% of their revenue from North America. Meanwhile, one in five Fortune 2000 companies have global centres in India.

Many multinational firms rely on Indians to handle their finance processes and deal with customer complaints. Though these hubs have evolved to include product engineering and innovation centres, including for artificial intelligence, the industry’s appeal remains rooted in its relatively low employment costs.

India’s services exports have grown at double the rate of the rest of the world between 2005 and 2023. Of the $341 billion India earned providing overseas services in the year ending March 2024, at least 30% or $103 billion came from the United States. That’s twice the value of goods exports targeted by Trump.

This model is now under attack from U.S. politicians eager to bring jobs back home. One symptom of the backlash is The Halting International Relocation of Employment Act, also known as the Hire Act, introduced this month by Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno. It proposes a 25% tax on outsourcing payments, defined as any money paid by a U.S. company or taxpayer to a foreign person whose work benefits U.S. consumers.

It’s unclear whether Trump supports the bill, and similar legislation has previously failed to win backing in Congress. But so long as Washington pursues an “America First” agenda, such threats will continue.

Reversing decades of outsourcing of services jobs would not be easy. A sudden move would leave global companies unable to file their accounts and support clients. Even a gradual shift could be fraught. The sheer number of English-speaking and numerically skilled workers in India cannot be found elsewhere.

Nevertheless, any sustained threat could be devastating, especially if AI also squeezes back-office headcounts. The crux of India’s recent economic stability is that it sells more services overseas than it buys from OpenAI, Perplexity, Alphabet’s GOOGL.O Google, and others. This helps contain the “twin deficits” in the country’s current account - a measure of its imports and exports – and in the government’s fiscal account.

Keeping a lid on these shortfalls prevents the rupee from depreciating too fast, curbs energy import costs, tames domestic inflation and reduces the need for politicians to spend borrowed money to support the large swathes of poor among the country’s 1.4 billion inhabitants. It has also helped to shrink the risk premium global investors assign to India.

When the twin deficits expand, India suffers. It experienced a sharp rupee depreciation and significant capital outflows during the 2013 “taper tantrum” when the U.S. Federal Reserve slowed down its bond purchases.

Modi has ways to offset the damage. His administration is doubling down on efforts to strike free trade agreements, including with the European Union. It is also waving through reforms to spur consumption and cut red tape. However, these steps are insufficient to replace lost American exports or truly unshackle Indian businesses.

Trump’s tariff war has shown the U.S. president is willing to inflict economic pain on his own country to try and achieve his aims. The risk for India is that what was a virtuous cycle for its economy turns into a vicious one.

Follow Una Galani on LinkedIn and X.

Follow Shritama Bose on LinkedIn and X.

(Editing by Peter Thal Larsen; Production by Aditya Srivastav)

((For previous columns by the authors, Reuters customers can click on GALANI/ [email protected];; [email protected] ))

** Indian IT stocks .NIFTYIT up 4.4% so far for the week, heads for biggest weekly gain since mid-May

** Sector top weekly performer among key indexes after two straight weeks of losses

** Gains come amid mounting expectations of U.S. rate cut next week and in the next two meetings in October and December

** IT firms in India earn a major chunk of their revenue from the U.S.

** Index up 0.3% as of 12:30 p.m. IST, led by 1.2% rise in Infosys INFY.NS after it approved its largest ever share buyback of $2.04 billion, at a premium of around 19.2% to last close

** IT index down ~17% YTD vs benchmark Nifty 50's .NSEI ~6% rise

(Reporting by Anuran Sadhu in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +91 8697274436;))

Sept 11 (Reuters) - India's No.2 IT services provider Infosys INFY.NS approved a share buyback worth 180 billion rupees ($2.04 billion), the company said on Thursday.

The company said it had set a buyback price of 1,800 rupees per share, adding that the repurchase will be conducted via the tender offer route.

($1 = 88.2740 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Anuran Sadhu in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Harshita Meenaktshi; Editing by Anil D'Silva)

(([email protected]; +91 8697274436;))

Sept 2 (Reuters) - Infosys Ltd INFY.NS:

• INFOSYS COLLABORATES WITH GLION ARENA KOBE

Source text: ID:nBSE7RNsP8

Further company coverage: INFY.NS

(([email protected];;))

Aug 28 (Reuters) - Infosys Ltd INFY.NS:

• MASTERCARD AND INFOSYS COLLABORATE

Source text: ID:nnAZN4FL7MS

Further company coverage: INFY.NS

(([email protected];;))

Aug 20 (Reuters) - Infosys Ltd INFY.NS:

• INFOSYS - UNITING FINANCIAL SERVICES, AUSTRALIA SUBSCRIBES TO DIGITAL BANKING SAAS SUITE

Source text: ID:nBSE2GVyND

Further company coverage: INFY.NS

(([email protected];))

Aug 14 (Reuters) - Telstra Group Ltd TLS.AX:

• TELSTRA DIVESTS MAJORITY STAKE IN VERSENT GROUP TO INFOSYS

• ENTERED INTO A STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH INFOSYS

• VALUE OF AGREEMENT IS A$233 MILLION

Further company coverage: TLS.AX

(([email protected];))

Updates with moves of U.S.-listed Infosys shares in paragraph 4

Aug 13 (Reuters) - Indian IT services company Infosys INFY.NS said on Wednesday that it would take a 75% stake in Versent Group, a wholly owned unit of Australia's Telstra Group TLS.AX, for A$233.3 million ($153 million).

Versent Group provides cloud services to Australian organisations in sectors such as finance, energy, utilities, government and education, Infosys said in a statement.

The deal, which Infosys says will boost its local presence, is expected to close by the second half of fiscal 2026, subject to approvals from Foreign Investment Review Board of Australia and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

U.S.-listed shares of Infosys rose after the news and were last up 1.6% at $16.33.

($1 = 1.5279 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Medha Singh, Editing by Anil D'Silva)

(([email protected]; X: @MukherjeeHritam;))

Aug 11 (Reuters) - ABN Amro Bank NV ABNd.AS:

• INFOSYS TRANSFORMS ABN AMRO'S LENDING PROCESS WITH NCINO PLATFORM IMPLEMENTATION

Source text: ID:nPretSgtPa

Further company coverage: [ABNd.AS]

(([email protected];))

Adds reporters' bylines

By Sai Ishwarbharath B and Haripriya Suresh

BENGALURU, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Indian outsourcing giant Tata Consultancy Services' TCS.NS decision to cut over 12,000 jobs signals the start of a broader AI-fueled trend that could end up eliminating around half a million jobs over the next two to three years from the $283 billion sector, experts said.

While TCS pegged the move to shed 2% of its workforce to skill mismatches rather than AI-related productivity gains, experts viewed the largest-ever layoffs by India's top private employer as the beginning of things to come in the labour-intensive sector. Roughly 12,200 TCS middle and senior management jobs will be lost.

The industry, which has played a crucial role in creating a middle class in India, is increasingly seeing AI being used for everything from basic coding to manual testing and customer support.

The sector employed 5.67 million people as of March 2025 and accounted for over 7% of India's GDP. It has a huge multiplier effect due to the direct and indirect jobs it creates and the cars-to-homes consumption it drives in the world's fifth-largest economy.

It has historically absorbed a majority of India's engineers but that will change as rising AI use ekes out more efficiencies and demands newer skills that many current employees lack, according to half a dozen industry veterans, analysts, and staffing firms.

"We are in the midst of a massive transition that will transform white-collar work as we know it," said Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research founder and chairman Ray Wang, echoing other experts who warned that more layoffs are likely on the cards.

The most vulnerable employees include pure people managers with minimal tech knowledge, those in charge of testing or identifying bugs and ensuring user-friendliness before delivering software to clients, and infrastructure management staff who provide basic tech support and ensure networks and servers are working well, experts said.

"About 400,000 to 500,000 professionals are at risk of being laid off over the next two to three years as their skills don't match client demands," tech market intelligence firm UnearthInsight's founder Gaurav Vasu said, adding that about 70% of those layoffs would impact workers with 4-12 years' experience.

"This (fear stemming from TCS layoffs) may hurt consumer demand for tourism, luxury shopping and even delay long-term investments such as real estate," Vasu said.

TCS and its peers Infosys INFY.NS, HCLTech HCLT.NS, Tech Mahindra TEML.NS, Wipro WIPR.NS, LTIMindtree LTIM.NS, and Cognizant CTSH.O collectively employ over 430,000 workers with 13 to 25 years of experience, according to staffing firm Xpheno.

"At the moment, they may appear like the big fat middle layer," Xpheno's co-founder Kamal Karanth said. None of the IT firms responded to Reuters queries seeking comment.

"With cost optimization being the key driver for new deal wins, clients are asking for productivity benefits - a trend which is also growing due to the rise in AI adoption. This requires IT firms to do more work with the same number of employees or the same work with fewer employees," Jefferies analyst Akshat Agarwal said in a research note.

ADAPT OR PERISH

TCS, which had more than 613,000 workers before the layoffs, said in its late July announcement it was gearing up to be "future-ready" by investing in new technologies, entering new markets, deploying AI at scale for its clients and itself, and realigning its workforce model. It did not answer Reuters queries on how many layoffs were tied to AI adoption and why it could not redeploy the affected employees.

"This is very devastating news," said a 45-year-old, Kolkata-based TCS employee affected by the latest layoffs. "It is very difficult for people my age to get new jobs."

Some others who are still at TCS fretted over its mediocre performance bonuses for senior employees in recent quarters, a new "bench policy" that limits the time somebody could be without a project regardless of personal circumstances or past performance, on-boarding delays, and the emotional turmoil caused by the layoffs.

"All these developments have tanked the morale of mid-career folks like me," a Pune-based TCS employee said.

The Indian outsourcing sector has been a key employment engine since the 1990s, offering upward mobility to millions of engineers. But revenue growth has weakened recently as its clients, stung by inflation and U.S. tariff uncertainty, defer discretionary spending and demand better cost management.

"The tech industry is at an inflection point, as AI and automation move to the very core of how businesses operate," industry body Nasscom said.

During past tech revolutions, disruption was felt at the organisational level.

"With AI, for the first time, the onus is on the individual to reinvent or re-skill themselves," former Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani said.

(Reporting by Sai Ishwarbharath B and Haripriya Suresh; Editing by Dhanya Skariachan and Kim Coghill)

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Updates with afternoon levels

By Ragini Mathur, Johann M Cherian and Sukriti Gupta

Aug 6 (Reuters) - Chile's peso declined the most among Latin American currencies on Wednesday, after the local central bank unveiled plans to boost international reserves, while investors were also scrutinizing U.S. tariffs on India and Brazil.

In a move that surprised investors, U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled an additional tariff on Indian goods , set to take effect 21 days after August 7. The new tariff will push duties on some Indian exports as high as 50% – among the steepest imposed on any U.S. trading partner.

Trump cited New Delhi's continued purchases of Russian oil as the reason for the sharply increased tariff rate.

Indian markets closed before the news, but a U.S.-listed iShares India ETF INDA.N slipped 0.3% to a three-month low. Depository receipts of Dr Reddy's Laboratories RDY.N REDY.NS lost 2.5% and those of Wipro WIT.N WIPR.NS and Infosys INFY.N INFY.NS dipped 1.5% and 0.9%, respectively.

On the currency front, the 1-month rupee forward INR1MNDFOR= was last flat against the dollar.

"While markets have already started pricing in the risk of a sharp tariff hike, a near-term knee-jerk reaction is inevitable — unless there's swift clarity or a breakthrough in negotiations," said Mayuresh Joshi, head of India equity research at William O'Neil.

"India's crude oil imports have remained diversified ... Russia is just one slice of our broader crude basket."

In Latin America, Brazil's real BRL= firmed 0.8% against a weaker dollar and touched a near one-month high and stocks .BVSP gained 1.1% to hit a two-week high as 50% U.S. tariffs on the country's exports took effect.

The U.S. enjoys a trade surplus with Brazil and top export items from the South American country were exempted from the duties last week. The BRICS group of countries has come under greater scrutiny in recent weeks as Trump accused them of pursuing "anti-American policies".

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Reuters in an interview that he saw no room for direct talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, which he believes would turn into a "humiliation" for him.

Meanwhile, Chile's currency fell 0.7% after the country's central bank announced a three-year plan to boost international reserves by $18.5 billion, aiming to strengthen its holdings and reduce dependence on foreign credit lines.

Citigroup moved to "underweight" on the Chilean peso in its EM Bond Portfolio following the reserves program announcement.

Mexico's peso MXN= firmed 0.7% ahead of an interest rate decision by the domestic central bank on Thursday.

Elsewhere, Trump said his special envoy Steve Witkoff had made "great progress" in his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, two days before a deadline set to impose new sanctions if no moves were made to end the conflict with Ukraine.

Crude prices slid to an eight-week low on the sanction uncertainty. The rouble RUB= had closed lower earlier on Wednesday, while international bonds in Ukraine rose broadly.

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies:

(Reporting by Sukriti Gupta, Purvi Agarwal, Ragini Mathur and Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Richard Chang and Mohammed Safi Shamsi)

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Adds Hyundai Motor in paragraphs 10, 11

July 24 (Reuters) - Some of the world's top tech firms, including U.S. search giant Alphabet, South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix and Indian IT services provider Infosys, have provided upbeat guidance in their latest earnings reports, shrugging off an uncertain U.S. trade policy.

Corporate operations have been overshadowed by erratic U.S. trade action that has upended supply chains and left firms to navigate fluid tariffs on top of broader economic uncertainties such as regulatory change and currency fluctuation.

But tech titans Alphabet GOOGL.O, SK Hynix 000660.KS and Infosys INFY.NS - which all reported earnings that beat market forecasts - predicted brighter days to come, with Alphabet and SK Hynix both flagging plans to boost spending.

Nvidia NVDA.O supplier SK Hynix booked record quarterly profit, boosted by strong demand for artificial intelligence chips and customers stockpiling ahead of potential U.S. tariffs.

Indian IT services provider Infosys raised the floor of its annual revenue forecast range to 1% to 3%, from flat to 3%, matching analyst expectations.

Among the major earnings on Thursday, Nestle, Reckitt, Roche and Wizz report before local markets open.

TURBULENCE

The upbeat guidance amounted to a bright spot in a turbulent second-quarter earnings season that has so far seen businesses as varied as chipmakers and steelmakers report downbeat results.

Companies have reported over July 16-22 a combined full-year loss of as much as $7.8 billion, with the automotive, aerospace and pharmaceutical sectors being hurt most by tariffs.

South Korea's Hyundai Motor 005380.KS on Thursday posted a decline in second-quarter operating profit, down 16% from a year earlier, as U.S. tariffs on vehicles and parts started to weigh on its bottom line.

The automaker said U.S. tariffs cost the company 828 billion won ($606.5 million) in the second quarter.

General Motors GM.N said tariffs knocked $1.1 billion from second-quarter earnings.

On Wednesday, Tesla TSLA.O Chief Executive Elon Musk said U.S. government cuts in support for electric vehicle makers could lead to a "few rough quarters", as his firm reported its worst quarterly sales decline in over a decade.

TRADE DEALS

News that the U.S. had struck a deal with Japan to lower new tariffs on auto imports and spare it punishing levies on other goods lifted stock markets on Wednesday. It stirred hope for a similar deal with the European Union ahead of August 1, when the U.S. said new tariffs will go into effect.

The European Union is moving toward a trade deal that could include a 15% U.S. baseline tariff on EU goods and possible exemptions, two European diplomats said.

One surprise on Thursday was South Korea's finance ministry saying tariff negotiations had been postponed due to a scheduling conflict for U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

The announcement cast fresh doubt about whether South Korea would be able to avert U.S. import duties that could hit some of its major exporting industries.

All eyes are on Washington as governments scramble to close trade deals ahead of next week's deadline that the White House has already pushed back under pressure from markets and intense lobbying by industry.

While the Japan deal has eased investor worry, the threat of higher tariffs on other large economies remains, including the European Union, Canada and Brazil.

An EU-China summit on Thursday will test European resolve and unity as the bloc faces trade pressure from both China as well as the United States, while U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent meets Chinese officials in Sweden next week.

($1 = 1,365.1800 won)

(Reporting by Reuters Newsroom; Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Lincoln Feast.)

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BENGALURU, July 23 (Reuters) - India's Infosys INFY.NS narrowed its forecast for the current fiscal year on Wednesday, after posting bigger-than-expected first-quarter revenue on a boost from Europe market.

The Bengaluru-based firm changed its annual forecast to 1%-3% from the flat-to-up-3% range announced in the previous quarter.

Analysts were largely expecting the firm to lift the bottom end of the range to 1%.

The company's consolidated sales rose 7.5% year-on-year to 422.79 billion rupees ($4.89 billion) in the June quarter.

Analysts, on average, expected 418.06 billion rupees, as per data compiled by LSEG.

($1 = 86.3880 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Sai Ishwarbharath B ; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee )

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July 22 (Reuters) - Infosys Ltd INFY.NS:

• INFOSYS COLLABORATES WITH AGCO TO DELIVER IT, HR OPERATIONS TRANSFORMATION

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: INFY.NS

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• Infosys Ltd INFY.N, INFY.K is expected to show a rise in quarterly revenue when it reports results on July 23 for the period ending June 30 2025

• The Bangalore Karnataka-based company is expected to report a 4.2% increase in revenue to $4.91 billion from $4.71 billion a year ago, according to the mean estimate from 7 analysts, based on LSEG data.

• ​LSEG's mean analyst estimate for Infosys Ltd is for earnings of 19 cents per share.

• The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 7 "strong buy" or "buy," 7 "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell."

• The mean earnings estimate of analysts was unchanged in the last three months. ​

• Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Infosys Ltd is $19.42, about 6.2% above its last closing price of $18.21

Previous quarterly performance (using preferred earnings measure in US dollars). ​

This summary was machine generated July 21 at 10:32 GMT. All figures in US dollars unless otherwise stated. (For questions concerning the data in this report, contact [email protected]. For any other questions or feedback, contact [email protected])

Adds analysts comments in paragraph 7 and 8, stock details in paragraph 3

July 18 (Reuters) - India's Wipro WIPR.NS rose as much as 4% on Friday after the country's fourth-largest IT firm reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, driven by improved client spending in segments of its Americas business.

At least six brokerages upgraded Wipro's stock after the company posted a 0.8% rise in first-quarter revenue and an 11% jump in net profit, both topping analysts' average estimates, according to LSEG data.

Data also showed that at least 10 brokerages raised their price targets on the stock, which was the top gainer on the benchmark Nifty 50 index and the IT index .NIFTYIT early on Friday. The blue-chip index and the IT index were both down 0.6% and 0.2%, respectively.

India's fourth-largest IT company said it expects revenue for the September quarter to be in the range of $2.56 billion and $2.61 billion, ranging between a drop of 1% and a rise of 1%, in line with what analysts were expecting.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley said strong large deal wins at Wipro "bode well" for growth in the second half of the fiscal year, while those at Investec said deal wins were the "big highlight of the quarter," and were the highest in more-than 13 quarters.

Wipro's deal wins rose to $5 billion in the quarter, up from $3.3 billion a year earlier.

"More importantly, these large deals are concentrated among Wipro's top clients, which implies greater wallet share," Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note.

Wipro's quarterly performance stood in contrast to rivals Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS and HCLTech HCLT.NS, which reported weaker revenue for the same period.

TCS and Infosys INFY.NS shares were up 0.1%, while HCLTech shares were down 0.8% on Friday.

(Reporting by Manvi Pant; Editing by Chandini Monnappa and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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BENGALURU, July 16 (Reuters) - India's Tech Mahindra TEML.NS reported a marginally lower-than-expected first-quarter revenue on Wednesday as clients tightened non-essential spending amid tariff-related uncertainty.

Consolidated sales at India's fifth largest IT services firm by revenue rose 2.7% year-on-year to 133.51 billion rupees ($1.55 billion) in the June quarter.

Analysts, on average, expected 133.83 billion rupees, as per data compiled by LSEG.

($1 = 85.9340 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Sai Ishwarbharath B and Haripriya Suresh; Editing by Janane Venkatraman )

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July 11 (Reuters) - Infosys Ltd INFY.NS:

• INFOSYS LTD - ENTERS STIPULATION AND CONSENT ORDER WITH VERMONT DFR

• INFOSYS LTD - IMS RESOLVES MATTER WITHOUT HEARING, DOES NOT ADMIT VIOLATIONS

• INFOSYS - IMS IS REQUIRED TO PAY ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTY OF $125,000

Source text: ID:nNSE6PT4ZR

Further company coverage: INFY.NS

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BENGALURU, July 10 (Reuters) - India's Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS reported lower-than-expected first-quarter revenue on Thursday as clients remained cautious about discretionary spending amid tariff-related uncertainty.

Consolidated sales at India's largest IT services firm by revenue rose 1.3% year-on-year to 634.37 billion rupees ($7.40 billion) in the June quarter.

Analysts, on average, expected 646.66 billion rupees, as per data compiled by LSEG.

($1 = 85.6690 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Sai Ishwarbharath B and Haripriya Suresh; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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June 20 (Reuters) - Infosys Ltd INFY.NS:

• INCORPORATED WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY INFOSYS LTD SPC IN OMAN

Source text: ID:nnAZN407S9Y

Further company coverage: INFY.NS

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June 18 (Reuters) - Infosys Ltd INFY.NS:

• INFOSYS AND ADOBE ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC COLLABORATION

• COLLABORATION FOR MARKETING TRANSFORMATION WITH AI

Source text: ID:nnAZN3ZUU6Z

Further company coverage: INFY.NS

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May 29 (Reuters) - Infosys Ltd INFY.NS:

• LAUNCHES OVER 200 ENTERPRISE AI AGENTS

• LAUNCHES OVER 200 ENTERPRISE AI AGENTS, PART OF INFOSYS TOPAZ AI OFFERINGS, GOOGLE CLOUD

Source text: ID:nBSE6FGYsZ

Further company coverage: INFY.NS

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