Sensex & Nifty Fall, Pharma Stocks Drag Amid New Trump Tariffs

Mumbai:The Indian markets started the day on the lower side on Friday, tracking weak global cues amid new Trump tariffs. The pharmaceutical stocks took the biggest hit, with Nifty Pharma declining 2.75 per cent. At 9.25 am, Nifty 50 was down 51 points or 0.21 per cent from yesterday's close, now at 24,716, while the BSE Sensex has slipped 179 points or 0.22 per cent, trading at 81,005.

Among broad market indices, both BSE MidCap and BSE SmallCap rose 0.05 per cent. Among sectoral indices, the Nifty FMCG index was an outlier with a gain of 1.46 per cent. Apart from strong selling in pharma stocks, Nifty IT shed 0.80 per cent, the Nifty Metal index fell 0.99 per cent. Among Nifty stocks, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) showed biggest gains with 4.45 per cent surge, followed by Tata Consumer Products, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, and Trent.

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Among laggards, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories took the lead slipping 1.41 per cent followed by Cipla, ONGC, Larsen & Toubro, and Tata Steel. "Despite Nifty's bounce yesterday, the index remains vulnerable unless it sustains a move above the 24,800 mark. A close above this level could potentially open the path toward the 25,000 level. On the downside, immediate support is at 24,600, followed by 24,500," said Hardik Matalia from Choice Equity Broking.

"As elevated volatility and conflicting technical signals prevail, traders are advised to follow a cautious "sell-on-rise" approach, especially when using leverage. Book partial profits during rallies and maintain tight trailing stop-losses. Fresh long positions should be considered only if the Nifty manages to sustain above the 25,000 mark," Matalia added.

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On July 31, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that modified “reciprocal” tariffs on many countries including Syria, Laos, South Africa, Myanmar etc, with updated duties ranging from 10 per cent to 41 per cent. Strong results from megacap tech giants Microsoft and Meta Platforms could not lift the US markets out of the red.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.37 per cent, extending losses to the third consecutive session. US markets extended their decline overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.74 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite remained flat with a marginal dip of 0.03 per cent. "In the near-term the market will be influenced by the tariff-related news. Since the date of implementation of the modified tariff rates is August 7, countries have time to negotiate to bring the tariffs down.

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Yesterday’s market action indicates that the market views the 25 per cent tariff as a short-term issue," said Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited. Asian markets were largely in the red territory. South Korea’s Kospi led losses with a 2.94 per cent drop. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.38 per cent, Shanghai Composite dropped 0.10 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.13 per cent.

On July 31, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their selling streak for the ninth consecutive session, offloading equities worth Rs 5,588 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) remained net buyers for the 19th straight session, investing Rs 6,372 crore into the market.

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