SAIL, JSPL, Hindustan Copper rally up to 5%. What's driving metal stocks?

At 02:49 PM; Nifty Metal index was the top gainer among sectoral indices, up 2.2 per cent, as compared to 1 per cent rise in the Nifty 50.

Metal shares in limelight

 

Shares of metal companies ferrous and non ferrous rallied up to 5 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Thursday’s intra-day trade amid heavy volumes.

 

Hindustan Copper, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL), Jindal Stainless (JSL), Vedanta, National Aluminum, Hindalco Industries and Tata Steel were up between 2 per cent and 5 per cent.

 

At 02:49 PM; the Nifty Metal index, the top gainer among sectoral indices, was up 2.2 per cent, as compared to 1 per cent rise in the Nifty 50.

 

What’s driving metal stocks?

 

As per World Steel Association, India steel production was up 9.7 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to 13.5 million tons (MT) in May ’25 with cumulative production in CY25 on YTD basis reaching to 67.2 MT (up 8.2 per cent YoY). While China production volume declined by ~7 per cent YoY to 86.6 MT with cumulative production in CY25 on YTD basis reaching to 432 MT (down 1.7 per cent YoY).

 

 

According to ICICI Securities, the decline in steel production from China is a positive development for the domestic steel industry, as this could lead to lower imports into the country, resulting in stabilization in domestic steel prices. Thus, the brokerage firm said they remain positive on the domestic steel sector, with preference on Tata Steel, JSW Steel, and Jindal Steel, owing to their strategic capacity expansion, strong domestic demand outlook, and improving profitability prospects.

 

Meanwhile, Hindalco on June 24, 2025 informed the stock exchanges that its step-down wholly-owned subsidiary, Aditya Holdings LLC, signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 100 per cent stake in the US-based specialty alumina manufacturer AluChem Companies Inc. The acquisition was made at an enterprise value of $125 million (~₹1,074 crore), and the transaction is expected to close within the next 2 to 4 months.

 

ICICI Securities said this acquisition is valued at ~1.9x EV/sales on CY24 earnings, and appears to be slightly higher in their view. Nonetheless, this segment is highly margin accretive, thereby supporting the overall company’s profitability ahead. Thus, the brokerage firm said they maintain a positive view on the stock supported by strong demand for aluminium and copper metal due to its incremental application in automobile and renewable spaces, strategic capacity expansion at Novelis and Hindalco and controlled leverage on B/S with Debt to Equity at ~0.5.

 

Meanwhile, five companies have submitted resolution plans for Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL), the flagship company of the beleaguered Jaypee group, the company has said in a stock exchange filing. 

 

According to a Business Standard report, the Adani group, Vedanta, Jindal Steel & Power, Dalmia Bharat, and PNC Infratech are the final bidders and the offers range from ₹10,000 crore to ₹11,000 crore. The committee of creditors (CoC) on Wednesday opened the bids and began evaluating the proposals, the newspaper reported, quoting people familiar with the matter.

 

This is unrelated diversification and shall put the interim balance sheet under stress for Vedanta and JSPL. This is a negative development if either Vedanta or JSPL is declared the winner in the submitted resolution plan given the time, energy and resources the acquirer will incur to revive assets at Jaiprakash Associates. ICICI Securities in a note said that they shall closely monitor developments in this case. Leaving aside this, both the companies are executing an ambitious capex plan with healthy profitability growth going forward, the brokerage firm said.