INDIA STOCKS-Indian shares fall as US tariffs hit markets, pharma stocks buck trend

By Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M

April 3 (Reuters) - India's benchmark indexes opened lower on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump slapped 26% reciprocal tariffs on imports from the South Asian nation, but a temporary exemption of pharmaceutical products helped soften the blow.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI was down 0.60% at 23,192.40 as of 09:18 a.m. IST, while the BSE Sensex .BSESN fell 0.61% to 76,153.68.

Trump's tariff announcement on India on Wednesday is part of his plan to impose a 10% baseline tariff on all trade partners from April 5, with higher duties on dozens of other countries, including 34% on China from April 9.

"The tariffs are significantly higher than anticipated and will disrupt global trade and, therefore, global growth," said Ankita Pathak, macro strategist and global equities fund advisor at Ionic Asset.

"This is likely to seep into domestic growth, earnings and consequently valuations," he said.

The silver lining was the pharma sub-index .NIPHARM, which was the only one among the major sectors that was trading higher.

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.