The Pharma stocks took the back seat in the Nifty 50 on Wednesday. The sectoral index that tracks pharmaceutical stocks, Nifty Pharma, dropped 2.54% to 20,437.50 in early trade hours. Similarly, the Nifty Healthcare index shed 2.34% to trade at 13,153.20.
Three out of the major five losers in the Nifty 50 were pharmaceutical stocks. The share price of Dr Reddy’s Lab declined 2.71% to Rs 1,165, the major loser in the Nifty 50. It was followed by Sun Pharma which fell 2.15% to Rs 1,664.95 in morning trade hours. Cipla lost 1.72% to Rs 1,456.65.
Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy’s Lab were among the key index losers that led to the Nifty slipping in early trade. Other pharma stocks declined as much as 9.5%. The share price of Aurobindo Pharma lost 9.5% to Rs 1,052.70, Lupin 6% to Rs 1,892.75, Zydus Lifesciences 6.5% to Rs 855.10, etc.
The fall in pharma and healthcare stock prices came after US President Donald Trump announced that US is likely to impose 25% tariff on the imports of pharma, automobiles, and semiconductor chips.
In the initial phase, Trump will implement a 25 % tariff on pharmaceutical imports. It will surge ‘’very substantially over a year’’. However, he has not clarified dates for imposition but hinted that companies will get time to shift their manufacturing plants to the US