Mumbai, Sept. 22 -- The headline equity benchmarks ended lower for the second consecutive session, weighed down by the Trump administration's decision to impose a one-time fee of $100,000 on new H-1B visa applicants. The move, seen as a setback for India's IT sector which relies heavily on these visas, had a bigger impact on sentiment than the recent GST revisions. The Nifty closed near the 25,200 mark, dragged down by IT stocks, while pharmaceutical shares with significant U.S. exposure also remained under pressure.

The S&P BSE Sensex declined 466.26 points or 0.56% to 82,159.97. The Nifty 50 index lost 124.70 points or 0.49% to 25,202.35. In two consecutive trading sessions, the Sensex fell 1.02% and the Nifty declined 0.87%.

The broa...