Metals, energy stocks drive Indian stocks higher as commodity prices jump

Indian shares hit all-time highs on Monday, led by metals and energy stocks after a rally in commodity prices, while PNB Housing fell 5 per cent after it called off a deal with Carlyle Group.

The NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) was up 0.87 per cent at 18,498, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) rose 0.86 per cent to 61,832 by 0512 GMT.

The Nifty Metals index (.NIFTYMET) surged 3.9 per cent, led by a 15 per cent jump in Hindustan Zinc (HZNC.NS), as global zinc prices spiked on production cuts.

The Nifty Energy index (.NIFTYENR) rose 1.9 per cent after crude prices hit their highest in years.

“While some commodity prices have cooled down, certain metals like zinc, aluminum and copper are surging. Crude prices have also hit multi-year year highs. For now, producers will likely benefit from this surge,” said AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital.

The Nifty Bank index (.NSEBANK) gained 1.1 per cent after India’s largest private-sector lender HDFC Bank (HDBK.NS) rose over 2 per cent to a record high after reporting a 17.6 per cent jump in September-quarter profit over the weekend.

Shares of PNB Housing Finance Ltd (PNBH.NS) fell 5 per cent on Monday to their lowest since early-June after the mortgage lender scrapped a fund-raising deal with a group of investors, led by private-equity firm Carlyle Group (CG.O).

Real estate developer Indiabulls Real Estate rose as much as 13.4 per cent after it reported a quarterly net profit against a loss last year.

Investors are now looking to updates from industries after state-run Coal India (COAL.NS) temporarily stopped auctioning coal to non-power customers and reduced contracted supplies, potentially hurting companies in other industries as India battles one of its worst power supply deficits in years.