The rally is broad-based all right. Old economy scrips have been especially glowing with the bulls showering attention on them. But even amongst equals, there are bull favourites: Steel is hot.
The market capitalisation of steel stocks has risen by nearly 180 per cent since January 1, 2003, with steel scrips bettering their 52-week highs month after month.
Top steel scrips like SAIL (Rs 43.00, up 323.64 per cent), Tata Steel (Tisco) (Rs 358.70, up 137.57 per cent), Jindal Vijayanagar Steel (Rs 16.37, up 200.36 per cent) and Ispat Industries (Rs 14.09, up 147.19 per cent) have been among the biggest winners during the period.
Can the rise in steel stocks be sustained? The run-up has been driven by two main factors.
Firstly, the industry has seen an improvement in the demand-supply scenario and steel prices have been improving steadily, enhancing the industry
