US President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order today, which directs federal agencies to recommend changes to the H1B visa program that is used to bring 85,000 foreign workers to the United States each year to fill high-skilled jobs. The new rules would potentially limit the entry of lower-skilled and entry-level tech workers into the country.

Trump will also use the "buy American and hire American" order to seek changes in government procurement practices to increase the purchase of American products in federal contracts. This is likely to impact outsourcing efforts as well as US company hiring - more than 15 percent of Facebook Inc's U.S. employees in 2016 used a temporary work visa, according to a Reuters analysis of U.S. Labor Department filings.

Brick and mortar firms are coming back into fashion, with the Avenue Supermarts IPO turning into a highly successful listing, resulting in a windfall for early investors, and Future Retail expecting sales to jump by a fourth in FY18, according to the company. Future Retail - which acquired key competitors EasyDay and others over the last few years, rapidly expanding its presence in North and South India through these acquisitions - is benefiting from both demonetization and now the upcoming GST rollout.

Demonetization turned into an overall boost for the firm, with non-cash transactions up sharply, and the company seeing a profit in the nine months ended December, compared to a loss of Rs 89.8 crore in the nine months in the previous year. 

Stock in spotlight: Auto parts firm Wabco India, which has received a BUY call and target of Rs. 7,000 in share price from ICICI Securities. Analysts say that the government's renewed focus on emission norms and updated pollution controls are likely to benefit the firm. 

Photo of the day: A truck carrying H1B visa applications at a government processing centre in California, USA. Eros Hoagland/NYT