Metal stocks suffered a severe drubbing on Dalal Street today, with heavyweights like Hindalco Industries slipping by over 7 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) as investors booked profits.
With investors locking-in their profits, aluminium producer Hindalco nosedived by 7.02 per cent to close at Rs 233.15 on the BSE. During the course of trade, the stock fell by 7.91 per cent to touch an intra-day low of Rs 230.90.
Yesterday, the stock was the best performer among the blue-chip firms in the Sensex pack, posting a gain of 1.7 per cent.
"Profit-booking saw metal stocks crying foul in today's session on the back of easing prices of the commodity from recent highs," said an expert.
Other than Hindalco, copper producer Sterlite Industries was the major turn-off for the sector. The counter ended the day with a loss of 4.06 per cent at Rs 176.10.
Besides Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, Bhushan Steel and JSW Steel also faced a tough time on the street losing 3.35 per cent, 1.86 per cent, 5.86 per cent and 6.06 per cent, respectively.
The BSE metal index closed at 16,943.54 today, down 710.88 points, or 4.03 per cent, vis-a-vis the previous close and was the biggest loser among the 13 sectoral indices.
Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex finished the day at 19,691.81, down 492.93 points, or 2.44 per cent.