MUMBAI: The benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty fell nearly 1% on Friday, marking their sixth consecutive day of declines, triggered by heavy selling in pharma and IT shares after US President Donald Trump’s announcement of 100% duties on pharmaceutical drugs set to begin next month.
The 30-share BSE Sensex plummeted by 733.22 points, or 0.90%, settling at a three-week low of 80,426.46. Intraday, the index experienced a drop of 827.27 points, reaching a low of 80,332.41.
The 50-share NSE Nifty followed suit, dropping 236.15 points, or 0.95%, to an over three-week low of 24,654.70. The index has faced a decline since September 19, decreasing over 3% across six sessions.
Analysts identified a significant impact on the BSE Healthcare index, which fell by 2.14% due to Trump’s tariff announcement targeting pharmaceutical imports. Notably, Wockhardt shares plunged by 9.4% in response.
In a post on the social media platform Truth Social, Trump stated, “Starting October 1, 2025, we will be imposing a 100% Tariff on any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product, unless a company is building their Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant in America.” He clarified that companies that start construction before the deadline would be exempt from the tariffs.
Among major Sensex firms, stocks like Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, and Infosys among others faced significant losses.
Conversely, some companies managed to register gains, including Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors, ITC, and Reliance Industries.
“The Indian equities market ended sharply lower on Friday due to the unexpected announcement from the US,” said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth management firm. “Investors reacted to the announcement of a steep 100% tariff on imports of branded and patented pharmaceutical products effective October 1. This move rattled already fragile investor sentiment, especially as the market continued to digest the recent hike in H-1B visa fees affecting IT firms.”
He added that both IT and healthcare stocks were significantly impacted, leading investors to reassess earnings outlooks and growth prospects for exports.
The sell-off in Indian markets mirrored trends in Asian markets, where South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225, Shanghai’s SSE Composite, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng also faced declines.
In Europe, equity markets displayed a positive trend while US markets closed lower on Thursday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 4,995.42 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude showed a slight decline of 0.27%, trading at USD 69.23 per barrel.
For context, the previous day saw the Sensex close down by 555.95 points, or 0.68%, at 81,159.68, while the Nifty dropped 166.05 points, or 0.66%, settling at 24,890.85.
