Metal stocks rally up to 6% last week. What’s cooking?

Shares of

, Steel Authority, & Power and also rose over 3% in the week gone by.

“Owing to the seasonal uptick in construction activities in Q4, rebar- HRC premium has now expanded to Rs2,500/te. Regional HRC prices rose by US$10-15/te, following price uptick in China,” said brokerage firm

.

“Our channel checks indicate that demand from Europe is likely to improve as buyers are looking to replenish the stocks post new year holidays. European mills are firmly quoting a minimum price of EU€650/te for HRC. As a result, Indian players and Indian steel mills have raised HRC export offers by US$45-50/te WoW to Europe,” the brokerage said.

While the recent price hikes in the regional market and expectations of better demand in Europe appear encouraging, we would wait for more clarity on stimulus measures in China and their impact on the overall steel demand, it said.

The brokerage firm ICICI Securities retained its cautious outlook on the ferrous sector with

(TP: Rs750) and (TP: Rs425) as its key picks owing to their longs-heavy product portfolios.

The brokerage is also positive on with a target price of Rs 1,225 as being a downstream player, it is relatively insulated from adverse price movements.Also, according to Ratings, global steel prices (free-on-board, China) are set to stabilise in calendar 2023 on-year, after falling over 40% to $570-590 per tonne in December 2022 from the early-April peaks of $1,000 per tonne on tepid steel demand.

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