Aurobindo Pharma, Biocon, and Natco shares gain over 3% in trade; latest updates to know about US tariffs

Pharma sector stocks rallied as much as 4% on Tuesday, April 15, despite the Trump administration proceeding with an investigation into pharmaceuticals and semiconductor imports as part of a bid to impose tariffs on both sectors. 

The NIFTY Pharma index was trading 1.66% higher during the morning session on Tuesday.

The notices published on Monday showed the investigations will include both pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients as well as other derivative products.

Shares of Torrent Pharma, Mankind, Granules, Lupin, and Ajanta Pharma also soared as much as 2.31%.

The US President on April 3 imposed a 26% tariff on India but excluded some goods from the ambit of the reciprocal tariffs. The list includes copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, lumber articles, gold, energy, and other certain minerals.

The US accounts for a third of India's overall pharma exports. Indian pharmaceutical companies supply a substantial proportion of drugs to US residents, with four out of ten of all prescriptions filled in the US in 2022 being supplied by Indian companies.

In a report dated April 10, JM Financial said BFSI, IT, Oil & Gas, Auto and Pharma remained the top 5 sectors wherein foreign institutional investors (FIIs) held equities in India, adding up to ~60% of FII holdings in India.

As a percentage of FII assets under custody (AUC) in India, the share of BFSI rose marginally to 31.2% from 30.8% on Feb 25, while that of Pharma rose from 6.8% to 6.9%, the report further said.

The pharma sector witnessed an inflow of $15 million from foreign investors.