Nifty Metal up by 1.16%, SAIL shares soar above 4%, Tata Steel and JSW Steel rise above 2%

The Indian benchmark indices opening higher, with Sensex at 80,872 and Nifty at 24,802. In the early morning trading hours, Tata Steel and JSW Steel were leading, before being overtaken by Tata Motors. As of now, Tata Steel and JSW Steel have advance by 2.53% each.

The Nifty Metal sectoral index too rose by 1.17%, with shares of Steel Authority of India Limited soaring by 4.18%, recording an intraday high of ₹134.79. The share price is still below from its 52-week high of ₹144. 

The reason for SAIL seeing a price rise is because the stock will trade at ex-dividend today, seeing investors rushing to purchase shares to avail the dividend under the T+1 settlement. The company's board had approved a dividend of ₹1.60 per share during its Q1FY2026 performance.

Meanwhile, JSW Steel and Tata Steel shares were trading above by 2.48% and 2.38%, respectively. JSW Steel's price is now at ₹1009, and Tata Steel is at ₹171.67. 

The reason for metal stocks continuing to see an uptrend is because of China's plants to cut down production between 2025 and 2026, to rebalance supply and demand of steel, as domestic demand remained muted. Due to this, there is a chance of cheap Chinese exports to reduce. 

As per a recent Kotak Securites report, 

China’s export prices, at US$485/ton, are 9% higher versus end-June, given

expectations of production cuts and policy support measures in China. "We see a further upside risk to Chinese prices in 2HCY25E, with a pick-up in domestic demand and potential supply-side reforms."

The report also said that the though steel prices were corrected sharply in June 2025 but recovered marginally (+2.2% month-on-month) in August, following the regional price strength. 

Simultaneously, last month, the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) recommended an extension of the provisional safeguard duty for another three years, which awaits assent from the Finance Ministry. The proposed duty is 12% in the first year, 11.5% in the second, and 11% in the third. 

This move is expected to partially decouple domestic steel prices from import parity, which is usually linked to China’s steel prices.