Sensex crashes 931 points amid fears of trade war, recession; pharma stocks hit

Frontline stock indices on Friday fell up to 1.5% owing to fears of a global trade war and potential recession in the global economy.

The S&P BSE Sensex plunged 931 points, or 1.22%, to 75,365 points, led by fall in Tata Steel (8.59%), Tata Motors (6.15%), L&T (4.67%), Adani Ports (4.38%), IndusInd Bank (3.83%) and RIL (3.52%).

The NSE Nifty index fell 346 points, or 1.49%, to 22,904 points. Out of the 2,947 stocks traded on the NSE, 2,230 declined, while only 646 stocks gained.

“Amid weak global cues, Indian equity markets opened on a negative note following an overnight plunge on Wall Street triggered by fears of a global trade war and rising concerns about a potential recession,” said Sundar Kewat, technical and derivatives analyst, Ashika Institutional Equity.

“Nifty 50 opened lower at 23,190 and briefly touched 23,214 in early trade, but soon reversed course and slipped sharply to an intraday low of 22,874. Throughout the day, the index faced consistent selling pressure, dragging it below the crucial psychological support level of 23,000,” he said.

Sectoral performance remained broadly negative with metals, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, energy, and IT witnessing the most pronounced declines.

Shares of pharma companies were hit on Friday after the industry’s joy over not figuring in the U.S. reciprocal tariff list proved short-lived with President Donald Trump announcing such a levy is coming.

“Looking at pharma as a separate category and will be announcing that in not too distant future,” he said, adding the tariff would be at a level “never seen before.” Mr. Trump said the tariff for semiconductor chips were also to be announced soon.

Out of the 20 companies forming part of the NSE’s Nifty pharma index, 18 were in the red on Friday even as the sectoral index closed 4.03% lower. Barring Torrent Pharma and Mankind, shares of other pharma companies ended lower, with some wiping the gains of Thursday.

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories intra-day touched a 52-week low of ₹1,076.20 apiece. Shares of nine companies, including Aurobindo Pharma, Lupin, Granules Pharma, Laurus Labs and Gland Pharma ended lower by 5% and more.