MUMBAI– Indian equities ended sharply lower on Friday, dragged down by a sell-off in pharmaceutical and technology stocks after the U.S. announced steep tariffs on imported branded drugs. Weak global cues compounded the pressure, pushing the Nifty below the 24,700 mark.
The Sensex closed at 80,426.46, down 733.22 points, or 0.90 percent. The 30-share index opened lower at 80,956.01 against Thursday’s close of 81,159.68 and extended losses through the day, hitting an intraday low of 80,332.41. The Nifty shed 236.15 points, or 0.95 percent, to end at 24,654.70.
Pharma stocks bore the brunt of the sell-off, with the Nifty Pharma index tumbling 470 points, or 2.14 percent. “Investor sentiment was rattled by a fresh wave of tariffs targeting pharmaceuticals, dragging pharma stocks deep into the red,” analysts noted, adding that near-term focus has shifted to domestic investment and consumption amid global uncertainty.
Losses were widespread. On the Sensex, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Tech, TCS, Bajaj Finserv, BEL, Titan, Hindustan Unilever, Trent, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank and PowerGrid all closed lower. L&T and Tata Motors were the only gainers.
Sectoral indices also ended mostly in negative territory. Nifty IT dropped 846 points, or 2.45 percent, Nifty FMCG slipped 260 points (0.47 percent), Nifty Auto lost 273 points (1.02 percent), Nifty Financial Services shed 262 points (1 percent), and Nifty Bank fell 586 points (1.07 percent).
The broader market fared even worse. Nifty Next 50 slid 1,148 points (1.68 percent), Nifty 100 was down 274 points (1.08 percent), Nifty Midcap 100 dropped 1,177 points (2.05 percent), and Nifty Smallcap 100 sank 405 points (2.26 percent). (Source: IANS)
