NIFTY50 at 24,805, SENSEX down 240 points as pharma stocks sink on tariff concerns; Sun Pharma, Cipla top losers

Indian equity benchmark indices opened lower for the sixth consecutive session on Friday, September 26, weighed down by weakness in pharma stocks amid renewed tariff concerns. Further, continued outflow by the foreign investors and weak global cues also dented the market sentiment.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he will impose 100% import tariffs on pharmaceutical drugs, 50% on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, 30% on upholstered furniture, and 25% on heavy trucks starting October 1.

Nifty Pharma was the worst-performing sector, slumping 2.18% after fresh tariff threats from Trump, with stocks like Natco Pharma (-4.08%), Sun Pharma (-3.54%), and Gland Pharma (-3.44%) leading the decline.

Nifty IT (-1.07%), Nifty Consumer Durables (-0.59%), Nifty PSU Bank (-0.53%) and Nifty Media (-0.51%) were the other top losing sectors.

The broader market also dropped in the early session, with Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 falling 0.67% and 1.02%, respectively.

According to exchange data, on Thursday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹4,995.42 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹5,103.01 crore on a net basis.

Globally, indices in Asia were trading lower on Friday, taking cues from the weak closing of the US stocks after President Donald Trump announced a barrage of new tariffs.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1%, Taiwan Weighted declined 1.63%, South Korea's KOSPI fell 2.2%, and China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.33%.

On Wall Street, the key indices ended lower for a third straight session as economic data increased uncertainty over the future for interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500 fell 0.5%, marking its longest losing streak in more than a month. Tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.5%, and Dow Jones fell 0.38%.

As many as 2,630 stocks traded on the NSE during the early session, among which only 397 were trading in the green, 2,170 were trading in the red, and 63 shares remained unchanged.

This indicates that the market's breadth was favourable to declines.

Meanwhile, 30 stocks hit their one-year highs in the early trade, while 78 stocks touched their 52-week lows.

Almost 27 stocks hit their lower circuits, and 31 stocks hit their upper circuits.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, was trading 2.08% up at 11.01 levels.

Sun Pharma was the biggest laggard, losing 3.20%, followed by Cipla (-1.81%), Asian Paints (-1.31%), Dr Reddy’s (-1.29%) and Infosys (-1.07%).

On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro (1.39%), Tata Motors (0.75%), Eicher Motors (0.71%), JSW Steel (0.71%) and ITC (0.37%) were the top gainers on the 50-share index.