Metal stocks fall up to 5% led by SAIL. Here’s why
The Nifty Metal index was the second worst performer for the day, behind Nifty Bank and fell 2.5% to the day's low of 7,736.15. In the 15-stock index, 14 were on the losing side. The other major losers were APL Apollo Tubes, Jindal Steel & Power and National Aluminium Company, each down by 3.3% around 2 pm on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Tata Steel, Hindalco Industries, Vedanta Limited, Adani Enterprises, Ratnamani Metals & Tubes, JSW Steel, Jindal Stainless, NMDC, Hindustan Zinc and Hindustan Copper declined between 3 and 1%. The lone gainer was Welspun Corp, which rose 6% to hit the day's high of Rs 572.20 on the NSE.
The dollar index hovered near a month high as remarks by Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller dampened expectations for a March rate cut.
There is an inverse relationship between the prices of the US dollar and commodities. A stronger dollar makes the greenback-priced commodity more expensive for buyers.
Meanwhile, the world's second-biggest economy slightly missed analysts' expectations for fourth-quarter economic growth, although Beijing met its annual growth target of around 5%, Reuters reported.
December activity indicators showed retail sales have grown at the slowest pace since September, new home prices fell at the fastest pace since February 2015, and investment growth remained tepid, though industrial output showed signs of improvement, the report said.
International prices of commodities are tied to the fortunes of China and the US, the world's two biggest economies. Metals in the commodities markets and listed companies in the equity markets, which have business interests in the metal sector, get impacted by the demand-supply concerns in the two countries.
The Nifty Metal index has
