Pharma stocks tumble; Sigachi Industries tanks nearly 7 pc

New Delhi, Jun 17 (PTI) Shares of pharmaceutical firms faced selling pressure on Tuesday as investors turned cautious amid reports of possible US tariffs on pharma imports.

The stock of Sigachi Industries tanked 6.88 per cent, Shilpa Medicare dropped 4.92 per cent, Suven Life Sciences declined 4.78 per cent, Wockhardt plunged 4.14 per cent, Eris Lifesciences went lower by 3.77 per cent, and Granules India slipped 3.60 per cent on the BSE.

Shares of GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals declined 3.39 per cent, Natco Pharma (3.36 per cent) and Lupin (3.34 per cent).

"Pharma and healthcare counters came under heavy selling pressure and were down by more than 1.5 per cent following US President Donald Trump's remarks on the imposition of tariffs on pharmaceutical imports," according to Bajaj Broking Research.

The BSE Healthcare index fell by 1.82 per cent to 43,373.62.

Sun Pharma skidded 2.18 per cent, emerging as the biggest laggard among the Sensex firms.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 212.85 points or 0.26 per cent to settle at 81,583.30. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 93.10 points or 0.37 per cent to 24,853.40.

"Media reports of possible US tariffs on pharma imports are likely to keep Indian pharma stocks under pressure," Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Research, Wealth Management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, said. PTI SUM SHW