Metal stocks lead marketwide decline

MUMBAI: Metal stocks have led today's market fall being high beta stocks. The BSE metal index was down 1.34% Friday noon when the Sensex was down a quarter of a percent. Nine of the 11 stocks comprising the metal index declined.

Jindal Steel & Power led the fall, down 2.9% at Rs 456.3, followed by Sterlite (-2.19%) at Rs 107.35, Hindalco (-1.5%) at Rs 123.35 and Tata Steel (-1.05%) at Rs 446.5.

"We have seen profit booking in line with global markets, where investors expecting some form of LTRO apart from an interest rate cut by ECB were left disappointed," said AK Prabhakar, head-research, Anand Rathi Securities.

High beta stocks rise or fall by a greater extent than the market does.