Metal stocks turn volatile as China pledges to contain coal prices

The Indian stock market after trading flat in the morning session has slipped into the red amid volatility. Sensex is down 348.23 points, or 0.56%, to 61,367.82 and the Nifty shed 129 points, or 0.70%, at 18289.80 - largely dragged by metal stocks.

The Nifty Metal index shed over 2 percent intraday on October 20. The index rose over 4 percent intraday on October 19, but eventually closed 2 percent lower.

The index has returned over 9 percent in last 1 month as compared to Nifty's gains of 4 percent in the same period.

Nifty Metal movement since last 3 months

The metal index has, however, recently come under selling pressure as China pledged to contain coal prices, which eased supply worries. China’s state planner said on October 19 it was studying ways of intervening in high coal prices and would take all necessary measures to bring them back to a reasonable range, dragging industrial metal prices, according to a Reuters report.

“There will regulatory interventions across geographies as metal prices directly impact raw material costs for companies that are into manufacturing,” Equitymaster analyst Vijay L Bhambwani said.

“We will see profit-taking with the fall in prices. But, the rally in metal companies is not over as money is coming into the markets,” the report added.

Source: NSE

Nifty Metal having risen over 4 percent yesterday slipped in today's session amid profit booking. Share price of Hindalco Industries and Coal India are the top index losers shedding 3-4 percent each.

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The other losers included NALCO which is down over 5 percent followed by Vedanta, Hindustan Zinc, SAIL, NMDC, JSW Steel and Tata Steel among others.

Disclaimer: The above report is compiled from information available on public platforms. Moneycontrol advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.