No Iron Don to protect D-Street, indices slump 1% under US fire

India’s equity indices ended almost 1% lower on Friday, marking their fifth straight week of losses-the longest losing streak in two years-as concerns over the fallout of US tariffs on Indian exports weighed on sentiment.

The NSE Nifty fell 0.8% or 203 points to finish at 24,565.35. The BSE Sensex moved 0.7% or 585.67 points lower at 80,599.91. Both indices declined 1.1% in the past week.

“The structural long-term trend is dictated by the earnings, which are around expectations; however, the challenge is the lack of enough clarity on the tariff front, and this uncertainty is expected to linger,” said Pankaj Pandey, head of retail research at ICICI Direct. “From that perspective, the market is lacking a near-term trigger for a decisive move.”

The recent losing run, initially triggered by fatigue after a strong rebound, has been exacerbated by Donald Trump’s announcement that the US will impose 25% tariffs on Indian exports, along with an additional non-tariff penalty for buying crude oil and military equipment from Russia.

Analysts said a pullback was due after Nifty’s surge from 22,000 levels to almost 25,700 levels in the last couple of months.

“The five consecutive weeks of losses in Nifty were marked by foreign selling with the overseas investors remaining 90% short on index futures-a multi-month low that added selling pressure amid tariff imposition concerns,” said Nilesh Jain, head of derivatives and technical research at Centrum Broking.Traders are watching whether the Nifty is able to hold above a key support of 24,000.”A further dip towards the 200-day moving average of 24,000 levels could be a short-term bottom, and investors can accumulate quality stocks,” said Jain. “A sharp and sustainable rebound is expected around 24,000 levels, but it may take some more time to materialise.”

The Nifty Midcap 150 and the Smallcap 250 indices declined 1.3% and 1.6%, respectively, on Friday. Out of the 4,169 shares traded on the BSE, 1,297 advanced, while 2,718 declined. In the past week, the mid-cap index shed 1.9% while the small-cap index tumbled 3%.

Pharma stocks were among the top losers on reports that Trump has asked 17 of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical majors to lower prices of existing drugs. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries tumbled 4.5% on Friday, emerging as the biggest loser on the index, after the first-quarter net profit fell 20%. The Nifty Pharma index dropped 3.3%

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net of ₹3,366.4 crore on Friday. Their domestic counterparts bought shares worth ₹3,186.9 crore. In July, overseas investors dumped shares worth 38,214.5 crore- the highest selling since February this year.

At home, the Volatility Index or VIX-the market’s fear gauge-gained 3.7% to almost 12 on Friday, indicating traders expect higher risks in the near term.

Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea tumbled almost 4%, while Hong Kong and Japan fell 1.1% and 0.7%, respectively. China and Taiwan declined around 0.5% each.