Market Rundown: Impact of $100k H1-B Visa Fee on Tech Sector

Federal Reserve Policy and Market Expectations

• 📈 Markets reached new highs last week following a Federal Reserve cut, with attention now on future policy moves.
• 🎯 Traders anticipate 44 basis points of further rate cuts this year, awaiting comments from policymakers like John Williams, Steven Moran, and Thomas Barkin.
• 📊 The key economic data point this week is the PCE price index, expected to remain steady at 2.9% year-over-year.

Impact of H1-B Visa Fee on India's IT Sector

• 💰 India's IT sector, valued at $283 billion, faces significant disruption due to President Trump's imposition of a $100,000 fee on H1-B visas.
• 🇮🇳 With 71% of skilled work visas last year going to Indian citizens, primarily in IT, Indian firms may need to rethink operations, potentially increasing remote work from India.

Tech Companies and H1-B Visa Sponsorship

• 💻 Major tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta are significant sponsors of H1-B visas, with Amazon approving over 12,000 in the first half of the year.
• ⚠️ These companies sent urgent emails to H1B visa holders, asking them to return to the US before Sunday, though clarity is needed on whether the fee applies to new or annual visas.

TikTok Ownership and Data Security

• 🇨🇳 White House officials indicated that Chinese parent company ByteDance will have limited board representation and minority stock ownership in TikTok.
• 🔒 User data will be stored on US cloud servers operated by Oracle, with Oracle founder Larry Ellison and Rupert Murdoch identified as US investors.

Legal and Business News

• ⚖️ Rupert Murdoch's lawyers have a deadline today to respond to President Trump's $10 billion lawsuit concerning the Wall Street Journal's coverage.