Indian pharma stocks defy market slump on US tariffs exemption

April 3 (Reuters) - Shares of Indian drugmakers surged 4% on Thursday, in contrast to the drop in the broader stock market, after U.S. President Donald Trump's administration exempted pharmaceutical products from the list of imports hit by reciprocal tariffs.

The pharma sub-index .NIPHARM was the only one among the 13 major sectors that was trading higher. The benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI was down 0.74%.

Trump imposed a 26% reciprocal tariff on Indian imports as part of his wider plan to impose a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from April 5, but the duties do not apply to certain goods, including pharmaceuticals.

The U.S. imports nearly a third of Indian pharma products sold overseas. India's pharma exports to the U.S. jumped 16% to about $9 billion last fiscal year, according to data from government-backed trade body Pharmexcil.

On the day, Dr Reddy's REDY.NS climbed 6% and was the top gainer on the benchmark Nifty 50 index. Gland Pharma GLAD.NS surged 12% and was the top gainer among pharma stocks.

Cipla CIPL.NS and Sun Pharma SUN.NS rose 4% each.