Metal shares rally; Hindustan Copper, Hindalco, Vedanta up over 5%

Hindustan Copper, National Aluminium Company (Nalco), Hindalco and Vedanta from the Nifty Metal index were up 5% to 13% on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in intra-day trade. Steel Authority of India, JSW Steel, Hindustan Zinc, MMTC and Jindal Steel & Power were up 2% to 4%.

At 10:53 am; the Nifty Metal index, the largest gainer among sectoral indices, was up 3.3% as compared to 0.39% rise in the Nifty 50 index.

LMEX, a gauge of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was up 3% to 3,494, hitting multi-year high on Wednesday. LMEX has surged 9.4% in past 10 trading sessions.

London aluminium futures rose to their strongest level since 2011 on Wednesday amid growing worries over tighter supply, while nickel surged more than 4% to a three-year peak. U.S. sanctions on major aluminium producer Rusal have pushed aluminium prices by more than 20% since the sanctions began earlier this month, the Reuters report suggested.

“The current upswing in LME integrated aluminium price is likely to benefit integrated players Hindalco, Alcoa and South32 the most. While risks of potential supply ramp up from China persist, we believe, in the near term, LME Al integrated players and US convertors will outperform,” analyst at Edelweiss Securities said in metals and mining sector update.

The brokerage maintain ‘BUY’ on Hindalco (target price: RS 325) and Vedanta (target price: Rs 425).