Sensex, Nifty tank nearly 1% on selling in pharma, IT shares after Trump announces tariffs on branded drugs

Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled nearly 1 per cent on Friday, marking their sixth consecutive day of decline, following heavy selling in pharma and IT shares as US President Donald Trump announced 100 per cent duties on branded drugs from next month.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 733.22 points or 0.90 per cent to settle at a three-week low of 80,426.46. During the day, it dropped 827.27 points or 1 per cent to 80,332.41.

The 50-share NSE Nifty tumbled 236.15 points or 0.95 per cent to an over three-week low of 24,654.70. The index has been on a decline since September 19, tanking over 3 per cent in six straight sessions. Sensex has tumbled by 2,587.50 points or 3.16 per cent in six sessions to Friday.

Most pharma shares dropped, dragging the BSE Healthcare index down by 2.14 per cent after Trump’s move to impose 100 per cent import tariffs on branded and patented pharmaceutical drugs from October 1. Wockhardt shares tanked 9.4 per cent. Laurus Labs, Biocon, Zydus Life, Glenmark, Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy’s also declined.

In his post on social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote, “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.”

The US President further clarified, “IS BUILDING” will be defined as, “breaking ground” and/or “under construction.” There will, therefore, be no Tariff on these pharmaceutical products if construction has started.

Among Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, Eternal, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Tech were the biggest laggards.

However, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Motors, ITC and Reliance Industries were the gainers.

“Indian equities ended sharply lower on Friday in a broad-based sell-off after the US announced a steep 100 per cent tariff on imports of branded and patented pharmaceutical products effective October 1. The unexpected move rattled already fragile investor sentiment, which was still digesting the recent hike in H-1B visa fees that triggered heavy selling in IT counters this week.

“Both IT and healthcare stocks bore the brunt of the sell-off, dragging the broader indices lower as investors rushed to reassess earnings outlooks and export growth prospects,” Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.

The BSE smallcap gauge tanked 2.05 per cent and midcap index lost 1.96 per cent.

All sectoral indices ended lower. Telecommunication dropped the most by 2.69 per cent, followed by BSE Focused IT (2.43 per cent), IT (2.41 per cent), consumer durables (2.34 per cent), teck (2.03 per cent), commodities (1.91 per cent), metal (1.90 per cent), services (1.73 per cent), consumer discretionary (1.70 per cent).

As many as 3,100 stocks declined while 1,041 advanced and 139 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Since last Thursday, the BSE benchmark has lost 2,587.5 points or 3.11 per cent, and the Nifty tumbled 768.9 points or 3 per cent.

“Markets remained under pressure and extended their losing streak for the sixth straight session. The tone was weak from the outset and worsened as the day progressed. The announcement of tariffs on branded drugs weighed heavily on sentiment, adding to recent concerns over visa policy changes,” Ajit Mishra, SVP (research), Religare Broking Ltd, said.

“The Indian market experienced a bloodbath, mirroring the rout across Asian markets. Investor sentiment was rattled by a fresh wave of tariffs targeting the pharmaceuticals, dragging pharma stocks deep into the red. Meanwhile, Accenture’s weaker guidance and job cuts highlighted slowing IT spending, with AI-driven growth failing to meet expectations, prompting a broad sell-off in tech shares,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended significantly lower.

Equity markets in Europe were trading in positive territory. US markets ended lower on Thursday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,995.42 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.27 per cent to $69.23 a barrel.

On Thursday, the Sensex tanked 555.95 points or 0.68 per cent to settle at 81,159.68. The Nifty tumbled 166.05 points or 0.66 per cent to 24,890.85.