Nifty Metal index movement today
Shares of metal companies ferrous and non-ferrous were under pressure, with the
Nifty Metal index falling 5 per cent to 11,855.85 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Friday’s intra-day trade on profit booking. The metal index thus recorded its sharpest intra-day decline in the past nine months. Earlier, on April 7, 2025, the Nifty Metal index had tanked 8.6 per cent in intra-day deals.
Jindal Steel, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Lloyds Metals, Tata Steel, Jindal Stainless and JSW Steel were down in the range of 3 per cent to 5 per cent.
At 10:09 AM; Nifty Metal index, the top loser among sectoral indices, was down 4 per cent, as compared to 0.53 per cent decline in the Nifty 50.
READ STOCK MARKET UPDATES TODAY LIVE Why are metal shares under pressure on Friday?
Metal shares declined on profit booking on Friday, as most of the stocks from the sector had outperformed the market in the past one month and zoomed up to 56 per cent till Thursday. Most of the stocks hit their all-time highs on January 29, 2026. In the past one month, the Nifty Metal index had outperformed the market and surged 16 per cent, as compared to 2 per cent decline in the Nifty 50.
Among individual stocks, in the past one month, the market price of Hindustan Copper had skyrocketed 56 per cent to hit a record high of ₹760.05 on Thursday.
Despite today’s decline, in the past one month, the stock price of Hindustan Copper has rallied 35 per cent. Vedanta, Hindalco Industries, Hindustan Zinc, Tata Steel, Jindal Steel and JSW Steel were up in the range of 9 per cent to 19 per cent, data shows.
Gold fell, following its first drop in nearly two weeks, as the US dollar strengthened after a report the Trump administration is preparing to nominate Kevin Warsh for Federal Reserve chair, the news agency reported.
The US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he intends to announce his pick to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Friday, as speculation intensifies over who will lead the US central bank after Powell steps aside from the job in May, the Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, India's gold and silver imports surged to record levels last year, sparking concern among policymakers, with the government having few effective tools to curb inflows that have remained resilient despite sky-high prices for the precious metals, the news agency reported.
ICICI Securities view on Indian Steel Sector
As part of ongoing structural reforms in the mining sector and in line with the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat 2047, the Government of India has notified Coking Coal as a Critical and Strategic Mineral under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act).
The inclusion of the coking coal in Critical & Strategic Mineral category is expected to facilitate faster approvals and accelerate exploration and mining activities, including of deep-seated deposits. Mining of critical minerals is exempt from public consultation requirements and permits the utilization of degraded forest land for compensatory afforestation, measures that are also expected to encourage greater private sector participation.
ALSO READ | These are most overbought, oversold stocks on BSE, NSE ahead of Budget 2026 With relaxed norms, this is structurally positive for the domestic steel sector with potential to increase coking coal production domestically. This shall further reduce the cost structure of domestic steel production and make them more globally competitive. Long term positive for Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Jindal Steel and SAIL, ICICI Securities said in a note. =========================== Disclaimer: View and outlook shared on the stock belong to the respective brokerages and are not endorsed by Business Standard. Readers discretion is advised.
 "Nifty Metal cracks 5%, sees sharpest intra-day fall in 9 months; here's why")
