Shares of pharmacy chains and drug distribution companies tumbled Thursday as President Donald Trump outlined his plans for addressing the US opioid crisis.

Shares of McKesson, AmerisourceBergen and Cardinal Health fell by 5.2 percent, 4.2 percent and 3.4 percent, each sliding as Trump declared the matter a "public health emergency" and promised legal action against "bad actors."

Pharmacy chains also sank, with Rite Aid losing 6.2 percent, CVS Health 2.9 percent and Walgreens Boots Alliance 3.2 percent.

Trump vowed to root out drug addiction and step up the fight against an epidemic that kills more than 150 Americans every day.

He also threatened "some very major lawsuits against people and against companies that have been hurting our people."

Trump did not mention any specific companies but said action against them would start "pretty soon."

Trump's announcement was not the only negative pice of news that reverberated through markets Thursday afternoon.

A report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said Amazon had obtained licenses in 12 states to become a wholesale pharmaceutical distributor.

The report, which was highlighted by Bloomberg and other financial media around the same time as Trump's speech, amplified worries about the effect an Amazon entry into pharmaceutical distributors could have on existing players.

Source: AFP