The Nifty Metal index was in the fast lane on Monday amid major quarter earnings and monthly production. The index defied weakness in copper prices globally as concerns over weaker demand on the back of power crises in Asia and Europe. The index was among the major contributors to the bull run on benchmarks Sensex and Nifty 50.
At around 2.14 pm, Nifty Metal was trading at 5,713.05 higher by 149.65 points or 2.7%. The index has touched an intraday high of 5,733.95. A broad-based buying was recorded across stocks except for three scrips that were on the decline side.
SAIL was the top gainer soaring by more than 8.3%, while NALCO and Hindalco followed by surging 4.5% and 3.8% respectively. Tata Steel climbed 3.1%.
SAIL's consolidated profit after tax (PAT) for the Sep-21 quarter was up nearly 10-fold at Rs892.91cr on the back of a spike in the top line. Profits were also higher by 11.34% on a sequential basis. The company reported 58.51% growth in total revenues for the Sep-21 quarter on a consolidated basis at Rs26,828cr. The revenues were higher by 29.96% on a sequential basis compared to Rs20,643cr revenues in the Jun-21 quarter.
JSW Steel and JSPL advanced 2.8% and 2.6%. APL Apollo and Coal India jumped by 2.5% and 2.2%.
Adani Enterprises zoomed 1.7%, while Hindustan Copper and Hindustan Zinc were higher by 1.5% and 1.3%. NMDC gained 0.9%.
On the downside, Welspun Corp plunged 1.4%, while Ratnamani dipped 0.5%. Vedanta traded flat but in red.
Indian metal companies will be announcing their October 2021 production monthly data this week starting today.
On the global front, traders reacted to China’s official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index stood below 50 levels, to 49.2 in October 2021. This was would be a further slow down in activity compared to September 2021 where the reading stood at 49.6. Below 50 reading in PMI indicates a contraction while above it would lead to expansion.
Globally, investors are awaiting the US Federal Reserve policy meeting, which is scheduled to be held on November 2-3. Investors will closely watch the commentary related to tapering schedule and indication of interest rate hikes give the threat of inflation.
