INDIA STOCKS-Indian equity benchmarks log weekly losses on US tariff risks

Updates for market close

By Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran

Feb 21 (Reuters) - India's benchmark indexes fell for the fourth straight session and recorded weekly losses, weighed down by auto and pharma stocks on uncertainty over the impact of U.S. trade policy.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI ended 0.51% lower at 22,795.90 on Friday, while the BSE Sensex .BSESN fell 0.56% to 75,311.06. For the week, the benchmarks have fallen 0.58% and 0.83%, respectively.

Both indexes ended at their lowest since early June on Friday.

This is the second consecutive week of losses for the blue-chips as uncertainty over U.S. tariffs dented sentiment, while a persistent moderation in earnings and foreign outflows added to the losses.

Seven of the 13 major sectors logged losses for the week.

Pharma .NIPHARM stocks have lost 2.1% this week as President Donald Trump said he intends to impose at least 25% tariffs on the sector. The U.S. accounts for nearly 31% of India's total pharma exports.

"Market sentiment is likely to remain muted to negative in the near term due to prevailing uncertainty over the U.S. tariff landscape," said Harsha Upadhyaya, chief investment officer of equity at Kotak Asset Management Company.

IT .NIFTYIT, which also gets a significant portion of its revenue from the U.S., slid about 2% this week.

Autos .NIFTYAUTO dropped 2.6% this week on worries over competition as reports said that India may slash the import duty on electric vehicles to 15% from 110% as Tesla TSLA.O prepares to enter the market.

Car maker Mahindra & Mahindra MAHM.NS fell 6% on the day while TVS Motor Company TVSM.NS and Tata Motors TAMO.NS shed about 4% and 2.5%, respectively.

Midcap .NIFMDCP100 and smallcap .NIFSMCP100 stocks rose 1.7% and 1.5% for the week. They fell 7.4% and 9.4% a week ago, their worst since March 2020.

Analysts said that recent decline in the segments provided ground for a temporary pullback.