Nifty closes below 24,000, Sensex falls 720 points amid crude surge; pharma tariff worries

MUMBAI: Indian equity benchmark indices closed lower on Wednesday as surging crude oil prices and fresh concerns over US tariffs on generic drug imports weighed on investor sentiment. The BSE Sensex ended the session at 76,749.60, down 720.51 points or 0.93 per cent, while the Nifty 50 closed at 23,996.25, falling 191.45 points or 0.79 per cent.

According to market experts, concerns over rising geopolitical tensions, higher crude oil prices, pressure on the rupee and uncertainty over proposed US tariffs on pharmaceutical exports led to broad-based selling during the session.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments Limited, said, “Indian equities ended lower as the ongoing US-Iran standoff and Houthi-led disruptions to key global shipping routes heightened concerns over potential oil supply disruptions, driving crude prices higher and weakening the rupee.”

He added that the risk-off sentiment due to renewed concerns over domestic inflation overshadowed better-than-expected business updates and encouraging first-quarter earnings. Rate-sensitive sectors such as realty, banking and consumer durables led the decline, while pharmaceutical stocks came under pressure amid renewed uncertainty over proposed US tariff measures on pharmaceutical exports.

Nair said that despite the cautious market environment, FMCG and auto stocks emerged as relative outperformers, supported by strong quarterly earnings from sector leaders.

Market sentiment was also impacted after US President Donald Trump announced plans to impose tariffs of up to 200 per cent on generic drug imports from 2028. Under the announcement, generic drugs imported into the US will continue to attract zero per cent tariffs for two years from August 1, 2026, after which the tariff will rise to 100 per cent for one year and 200 per cent thereafter. The announcement put pressure on Indian pharmaceutical stocks during the trading session.

Among the sectoral indices on the NSE, Nifty Auto gained 0.20 per cent and Nifty FMCG rose 0.74 per cent. All other sectoral indices closed in the red. Nifty IT declined 1.56 per cent, Nifty Media lost 2.67 per cent, Nifty Metal fell 0.57 per cent, Nifty Pharma dropped 1.31 per cent, while Nifty PSU Bank declined 1.89 per cent.

At the time of reporting, Brent crude oil prices had surged more than 4 per cent to USD 95.30 per barrel. The Indian rupee was trading at Rs 96.54 per US dollar.

Riyank Arora, Associate Vice President-HNI & Derivatives at Hedged.in, said today’s decline was driven by broad-based profit booking and cautious market sentiment. He said the medium-term trend remains constructive as long as key support levels hold, and advised traders to remain selective, avoid aggressive long positions and consider a buy-on-dips approach near strong support zones with strict risk management.

In other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index declined 0.10 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.04 per cent, while Singapore’s Straits Times gained 1.24 per cent and South Korea’s KOSPI advanced 0.73 per cent. (ANI)