US drugmakers rise on reprieve from Trump tariffs

Shares of major U.S. drugmakers rise between 2% and 3% in early trading amid a broader market selloff

Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N rises 2.4% to $159.07, Merck MRK.N 2.2% to $88.33, AbbVie ABBV.N 2.5% to $210.28, Amgen AMGN.O 2.3% to $312.23

The pharma sector ducked U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs announced on Wednesday for now

The news came as "a big positive to the (pharma) sector that has been under pressure from this for the last two weeks," UBS analysts said, adding that AbbVie and Merck, with significant ex-U.S. manufacturing, came out as "big winners"

However, the administration's call for "robust and resilient domestic manufacturing" in the sector, suggests that it remained on its radar - UBS

Up to last close, JNJ up 7.4%, AMGN up 17.3%, MRK down ~13%, ABBV up 15.5% so far this year