Business
Stock market outlook: US tariffs put textiles and gems stocks in focus; analysts see range-bound trade – Times of India
Stock market investors may remain jittery in the near term after the steep 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods entering the United States came into effect on Wednesday, with analysts flagging textiles, gems and jewellery, and leather stocks as likely to remain in focus when trading resumes on Thursday.The additional 25 per cent levy imposed by US President Donald Trump on India for its Russian oil purchases has taken the overall tariff burden to 50 per cent. Analysts said the move was anticipated and while the market may open with cuts, panic selling is unlikely.“The market will open with cuts. But a panic is unlikely since this 50 per cent tariff is not unexpected. FIIs may continue to sell dragging the market down. But at lower levels, there will be aggressive buying by DIIs who are flush with funds,” V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, told PTI.Export-oriented sectors expected to feel the brunt include textiles and clothing, gems and jewellery, shrimp, leather, footwear, animal products, chemicals, and electrical and mechanical machinery. However, pharma, energy products, and electronic goods are outside the ambit of the sweeping duties.Puneet Singhania, Director at Master Trust Group, said, “The 25 per cent additional US tariff, taking the aggregate duty on Indian imports to 50 per cent, has already rattled the markets. On August 26, Nifty fell 255.70 points to 24,712, and the Sensex declined 849.37 points to 80,786. Although defensives such as pharma and electronics remain relatively well-insulated, export-oriented sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery, chemicals & organic compounds and agricultural are encountering strong headwinds.”Markets may remain volatile as investors absorb the trade shock, Singhania added, cautioning that “export-linked stocks may experience earnings downgrades, while domestic demand-driven sectors, as well as defensives such as pharma and IT services, may experience relative interest.”According to BSE and NSE data, foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 6,516.49 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors bought Rs 7,060.37 crore worth of shares, offsetting some pressure.The US accounted for about 20 per cent of India’s $437.42 billion goods exports in 2024-25, making the new tariffs particularly significant. “The first move will be sentiment-driven. The 25 per cent additional tariff on Indian goods takes the total duty close to 50 per cent, and that raises concerns for sectors like textiles, gems and jewellery, leather, and seafood. In the near term, the market may remain range-bound with sector rotation, not a sharp correction,” said Trivesh D, COO of online brokerage Tradejini.
The Eli Lilly logo appears on the company’s office in San Diego, California, U.S., Nov. 21, 2025.
Mike Blake | Reuters
Eli Lilly on Monday said it is lowering the cash prices of single-dose vials of its blockbuster weight loss drug Zepbound on its direct-to-consumer platform, LillyDirect, building on efforts by the company and the Trump administration to make the medicine more accessible.
The announcement also comes weeks after chief rival Novo Nordisk unveiled additional discounts on the cash prices of its obesity and diabetes drugs.
Starting Monday, cash-paying patients with a valid prescription can get the starting dose of Zepbound vials for as low as $299 per month on LillyDirect, down from a previous price of $349 per month. They can also access the next dose, 5 milligrams, for $399 per month and all other doses for $449 per month, down from $499 per month across those sizes.
Zepbound carries a list price of roughly $1,086 per month. That price point, and spotty insurance coverage for weight loss drugs in the U.S., have been significant barriers to access for some patients.
Eli Lilly’s announcement comes just weeks after President Donald Trump inked deals with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to make their GLP-1 drugs easier for Americans to get and afford. The agreements will cut the prices the government pays for the drugs, introduce Medicare coverage of obesity drugs for the first time for certain patients and offer discounted medicines on the government’s new direct-to-consumer website launching in January, TrumpRx.
But Eli Lilly’s deal with Trump centers around lowering the prices of a different form of Zepbound – a multi-dose pen – after it wins Food and Drug Administration approval.
That means Eli Lilly’s Monday announcement around cutting prices on the existing single-dose vials could allow more patients to get discounted treatments more quickly.
“We will keep working to provide more options — expanding choices for delivery devices and creating new pathways for access — so more people can get the medicines they need,” said Ilya Yuffa, president of Lilly USA and global customer capabilities, in a statement.
Eli Lilly’s stock, which has climbed more than 36% this year, fell nearly 2% on Monday. Its meteoric rise due to the success of Zepbound and its diabetes injection Mounjaro vaulted it to becoming the first health-care company to hit a $1 trillion market value last month. Though cutting prices means lower revenue per medication sold, Eli Lilly’s sales — and shares — have continued to soar through past pricing announcements as demand balloons.
With single-dose vials, patients need to use a syringe and needle to draw up the medicine and inject it into themselves. Eli Lilly first introduced that form of Zepbound in August 2024.
It’s unclear how many patients are currently using single-dose vials of Zepbound. But Eli Lilly previously said that direct-to-consumer sales now account for more than a third of new prescriptions of Zepbound.
Novo Nordisk earlier this month lowered the price of its obesity drug Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic for existing cash-paying patients to $349 per month from $499 per month. That excludes the highest dose of Ozempic.
The company also launched a temporary introductory offer, which will allow new cash-paying patients to access the two lowest doses of Wegovy and Ozempic for $199 per month for the first two months of treatment.
The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has approved a fresh increase in the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), raising the cost for both domestic consumers and commercial users.
According to the notification issued, the LPG price has been increased by Rs7.39 per kilogram, setting the new rate at Rs209 per kg for December. As a result, the price of a domestic LPG cylinder has risen by Rs87.21, bringing the new price to Rs2,466.10.
In November, the price of LPG stood at Rs201 per kg, while the domestic cylinder was priced at Rs2,378.89.
The latest price hike is expected to put additional pressure on households already grappling with rising living costs nationwide.
New Delhi: The taxable value of all supplies under GST surged by a robust 15 per cent during September-October this year, compared to the same period in 2024 due to sharp increase in consumption triggered by the tax rate cuts on goods across sectors that kicked in from September 22, according to official sources.
The growth in the same two-month period last year was 8.6 per cent. “This surge in taxable value during ‘Bachat Utsav’ demonstrates strong consumption uplift, stimulated by reduced rates and improved compliance behaviour,” a senior official said.
He pointed out that the growth has especially been strong in sectors where rate rationalisation was implemented, such as FMCG, pharma goods, food products, automobiles, medical devices and textiles. In these sectors, the taxable value of supplies has seen significantly higher growth, confirming that lower GST rates translated directly into higher consumer spending.
“It vindicates our strategy that reducing rates on essentials and mass-use sectors would create demand-side buoyancy — a Laffer Curve–type demand uplift,” he explained.These trends confirm that GST next-gen reforms have not disrupted revenue stability, and that consumption-side buoyancy has begun to translate into higher taxable value in key sectors.
This growth is in value terms which means that since GST rates were lower, the growth in volume terms will be even higher. It is clearly visible that while the Next Gen Reforms resulted in significant Bachat — increased consumption, industry has been very proactive in passing on the GST savings to the final consumers and ensuring that there is no supply side deficiency.
As GDP private consumption data will be released much later, GST taxable value serves as the most reliable real-time proxy for consumption, and the current numbers clearly indicate sustained demand expansion, the official added.
Eli Lilly cuts cash prices of Zepbound weight loss drug vials on direct-to-consumer site
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