Stock market ends five-day winning streak
At close, Sensex was down 609.28 points, or 0.82%, at 73,730.16. Meanwhile, Nifty opened higher at 22,620.40 and touched a low of 22,419.90 in intraday trades.
The metals index peaked to a 26-month high as investors latched on to beaten down shares on expectations that a rise in the underlying prices of metals will boost earnings at such producer companies. Government-owned giant SAIL and silver producer Hindustan Zinc topped the charts.
The Metals index was the 3rd best performing benchmark on the National Stock Exchange, up 1.1% to 2,983 points, its highest level since November 2014. Eleven of the 15 constituents of the index rose between 0.2-3 percent as traders ramped up prices of companies such as Tata Steel, Jindal Steel & Power and Vedanta.
Such has been the consistency of buying into metals stocks that the benchmark has surged 13 percent in January alone. Investors are hoping that the rise in international prices of copper, zinc, lead, aluminium and steel will reflect well on the balance sheets of local players which are bathed in red. A proposed cut in steel output by China, the world's largest producer of the alloy, also helped boost bullish sentiment on Dalal Street.
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Overall, the index is up a whopping 82 percent over one year as skilled investors bought into massive fear and negative sentiment that this sector exhibited over the previous 36 months.
Here is a snapshot of stock prices:
SAIL rose 2.7% to 59.25 rupees. Hindustan Zinc gained 2.4% to 285.20 rupees. Tata Steel surged 2.2% to 458 rupees. Jindal Steel & Power gained 2.2% to 80.30 rupees and Vedanta added 0.8% to 241 rupees.
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