NEW DELHI: Pharma stocks slipped in early trade on Friday as investors reacted to US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 100% import tariff on branded and patented pharmaceutical drugs.
Wockhardt Ltd plunged 6.58%, Natco Pharma fell 5.46%, Sun Pharma declined 4.96%, Indoco Remedies dropped 4.70%, Glenmark Pharma lost 2.88%, Aurobindo Pharma was down 2.44%, and Dr. Reddy’s slipped 2.31% on the BSE. The BSE Healthcare index fell 1.39% to 43,376.04.
“Indian markets opened cautiously and weakened further, with sustained selling in IT and renewed pressure on pharma stocks following the sharp US tariff hike affecting sentiment,” said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth-tech firm. He added that investor focus will now be squarely on the domestic pharma sector after the Trump Administration’s announcement, which is effective from October 1.
On the broader market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex was down 373.51 points at 80,793.03, while the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 110 points to 24,780.80.
“President Trump’s tariff measures are back in focus, now targeting patented and branded drugs,” noted VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments Limited.
