Nifty Metal declines above 3%; Hindustan Zinc and JSL emerge as top losers
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The Nifty Metal index continued to extend its intraday fall to hit a one-week low of 11,107.15, down by 3.25%. Metal companies dipped by 5%, with profit booking and a fall in metal prices being key reasons for the decline.
Hindustan Zinc and Jindal Stainless Limited (JSL) emerged as top losers in today’s trade, declining by 5.63% and 5.31%, respectively. Shares of Hindustan Zinc were in a downtick as silver prices continued to decline, falling up to Rs 4,000 per kilogram within an hour, and silver ETFs also dipped.
Metal stocks, which saw a sharp 6-day rally, lost steam amid profit booking. The Nifty Metal index had risen by 5% in six sessions, only to end flat yesterday. National Aluminium, Hindustan Copper and Jindal Steel also fell to 4.46%, 4.48% and 4.19%, respectively.
Meanwhile, Tata Steel, which was down by nearly 2%, reported its Q3FY2026 earnings. Tata Steel achieved ‘best-ever quarterly’ crude steel production of 6.34 million tonnes. Production was up 12% QoQ and YoY, primarily aided by higher output at the Jamshedpur and Kalinganagar facilities. For 9MFY26, production was up 6% YoY to nearly 17.2 million tonnes.
Other metal companies such as Adani Enterprises, JSW Steel, SAIL, Welspun Corporation and Lloyds Metal declined up to 3%.
Motilal Oswal Financial Services, in their recent report, suggested that the metal companies under their coverage are projected to report a profit growth of 15% YoY over a soft base of 3QFY25.
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“We have generally been underweight on metals and continue to remain so. Within utilities also we have also been selective and have exposure only through Suzlon Energy. However, within metals, we have introduced Tata Steel into the portfolio and booked profits in Jindal Stainless. Tata Steel is one of the largest players in India's steel sector and is set to benefit from improving steel price realisations, operating efficiencies, and the strong domestic demand outlook,” the note stated.
While near-term challenges persist due to global uncertainty around tariff escalations, the long-term outlook for Tata Steel remains strong. “The Indian business is expected to continue its strong performance, and an improvement in the European business performance is likely to support overall earnings,” the report said.