NEW DELHI: IT stocks bounced back on Thursday, rising as much as 3 per cent, on value-buying at lower levels in line with a positive stock market sentiment. Shares of Infosys gained 2.05 per cent, TCS rose by 1.68 per cent and HCL Tech went up by 1.41 per cent on BSE.

Tech Mahindra gained 2.85 per cent and Hexaware Technologies went up by 1.82 per cent.

The BSE IT index rose by 1.78 per cent to end at 9,635.41. Shares of Wipro ended marginally down by 0.01 per cent. “IT stocks, which were under pressure owing to the US immigration woes, swung back sharply lending positivity,” Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd Chief Market Strategist Anand James said. IT stocks were reeling under pressure amid fresh concerns over H1-B visa issue. These stocks were on the backfoot and witnessed a combined erosion of Rs 44,280 crore from their market valuation in the past two straight sessions. H1-B is a non-immigrant visa that allows the US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in specialised fields. The technology firm go for it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year. The Sensex ended the day at 28,226.61, up 84.97 points.—PTI