Indian shares end losing streak on boost from metal, energy stocks

Indian shares snapped four sessions of losses on Tuesday, as metals and energy stocks marked a sharp recovery.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI)ended up 0.5 per cent at 17,503.35 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN)rose 0.34 per cent to 58,664.33, after falling as much as 1.15 per cent and 1.28 per cent earlier in the session. The indexes lost nearly 4 per cent each over the last four sessions.

The Nifty Metal index (.NIFTYMET) ended the session 3.3 per cent higher, helped by Vedanta Ltd (VDAN.NS), which rose nearly 8 per cent on a report that its promoters were looking to buy up to 170 million shares of the mining company.

Metal shares were also supported by a 10 per cent surge in China’s benchmark iron ore futures, as steelmakers were set to resume production after rigorous controls over the past few months.

Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL.NS) and JSW Steel (JSTL.NS) were among the top performers on the sub-index, rising 3.45 per cent and 4 per cent respectively.

The Nifty Energy index (.NIFTYENR) ended 2.03 per cent higher. The United States is expected to announce a loan of crude oil from its emergency stockpile on Tuesday as part of a plan with major Asian energy consumers, including India, to lower energy prices.