Metal shares gain; CNX Metal index up nearly 1%

Metal shares are up by 2.5% on the BSE after growth in China's services sector picked up slightly in December

Metal shares are trading higher by over 2.5% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) after growth in China's services sector picked up slightly in December. China is the world's largest consumer of steel, copper and aluminum.

Nalco, Jindal Steel, Sesa Sterlite, JSW Steel, NMDC, Tata Steel, SAIL and Hindalco have gained between 0.5-3%. Further, CNX Metal is trading at 2,679 levels up by 18 points or 0.67%.

Growth in China's services sector picked up slightly in December, a government study showed on Thursday, helping to offset further weakness in manufacturing which is weighing on the world's second-largest economy.

The official non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, rose to 54.1 in December from November's 53.9, well above the 50-point line that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.