Weak Chinese data takes toll on metal shares

Jindal Steel & Power (down 9.62%), Tata Steel (down 6.25%), Hindalco Industries (down 6.24%), Sail (down 5.31%), Sterlite Industries (India) (down 4.52%), Sesa Goa (down 4.22%), JSW Steel (down 3.54%), Hindustan Zinc (down 3.40%), NMDC (down 3.19%) and Bhushan Steel (down 1.08%), edged lower. However, Nalco rose 1.01%.

The BSE Metal index slumped 4.63% at 7,716.50. It underperformed the BSE Sensex, which fell 2.74% at 18,719.29.

The BSE Metal index had underperformed the market over the past one month till 19 June 2013, sliding 7.99% compared with the Sensex's 5.13% fall. The index had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, falling 8.17% as against Sensex's 1.25% rise.

Activity in China's vast manufacturing sector weakened further in June to a 9-month low as new orders faltered, a preliminary survey of purchasing managers showed on Thursday, reinforcing signs of tepid economic growth in the second quarter. The flash HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 48.3 in June from May's final reading of 49.2, drifting further away from the 50-point level demarcating expansion from contraction. It was the weakest level since September 2012.

China is the world's largest consumer of copper and aluminum.

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