Vedanta, Welspun, SAIL, other metal stocks rise amid positive cues; Nifty Metal up 20% in 2026

On Tuesday, the Nifty Metal index surged 1.1% to hit the day’s high of 13,495 points, compared to 13,345 points at the previous market session, according to NSE data.

The positive momentum among the metal stocks comes as investors focus on the higher price of commodities and precious metals in the global market, along with the lower cost of crude oil, which directly and indirectly impacts the company’s overall margins, respectively.

The crude oil prices were trading lower in the global market due to the renewed sentiment of a potential peace deal between the United States and Iran for the West Asia conflict.

Sectors like Metal & Mining are highly capital and energy-intensive, as the metal manufacturing companies use large quantities of crude oil derivative products such as petrol, diesel, etc., for various purposes like transport, freight, among other things.

With a fall in crude oil prices, the input cost needed for the operation of heavy equipment, shipping, mining, and transportation will also become lower due to the reduced fuel expenses.

The falling input costs also help aid the operational level earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) and the EBITDA margins for the companies.

The indirect impact of falling crude oil prices has a ripple effect on the rising demand for key metals, as the lower oil, along with reducing costs, improves the inflation situation in the economy, giving opportunity for infrastructure growth, a move beneficial for metal stocks.

Investing.com data showed that global benchmark crude oil prices were trading at $95.4 per barrel (bbl) as of 1:22 pm (IST). Crude oil prices have eased 10% in the last one week, benefiting the margin of these crude-oil derivative-linked companies and other oil processing firms.

Commodities like aluminium, copper, gold, silver, platinum, zinc, palladium, and lead were among other materials which were having higher prices on the global market on Tuesday, according to Investing.com data.

Nifty Metal gains 20% in 2026

The sectoral benchmark, the Nifty Metal index, has outperformed the overall benchmark NIFTY50 returns so far in the calendar year 2026, gaining nearly 20% year-to-date (YTD), according to NSE data.

The data further showed that the NIFTY50 index has lost more than 8% of shareholder value on a year-to-date basis in 2026, as the West Asia crisis, higher oil prices and supply chain disruption have rattled the global economy, including Indian markets.

Nifty Metal has delivered more than 168% returns in the last five years, over 126% gains in the last three years, and more than 44% returns in the past one-year period, according to the exchange data.

The index has gained 5.5% in the past one month and was trading 2.2% higher in the last five trading sessions on the Indian stock market.

Overall, the metal stocks have delivered strong performance in the March quarter of the financial year ended 2025-26, on the backdrop of strong domestic demand for steel and other key metals due to the rapid infrastructure development in the country.

Metal stocks in focus today

Shares of Vedanta were trading 2.6% higher in the last five trading sessions, but have lost 51% in the last one month period. The mining company carried out a demerger on May 1, 2026.

Shares of the company have risen 7.7% in the last five days, and were trading more than 28% in the last one month period, as per the exchange data. The trading volumes of the stock surged to nearly 3 million shares as of the afternoon trading session.

SAIL shares have gained nearly 14% in the past one month, and were trading more than 2% higher in the last five trading days.

Shares of Lloyds Metals have delivered 8.8% returns in the last one-month period, and were trading nearly 11% higher in the last one-week period on the Indian stock market, as per NSE data.

Trading volumes surged more than 7.59 lakh shares across the stock exchanges on May 26.

Shares of Welspun have delivered more than 9.8% in the past one-month period, and were trading over 3.5% higher in the last five market sessions.

Other metal stocks like National Aluminium Co., Hindustan Copper, Hindustan Zinc, JSW Steel, Hindalco, and Jindal Steel were among the gainers on Tuesday. While Tata Steel, JSL, NMDC and APL Apollo Tubes were among the losers on the Nifty Metal index.