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Informist, Friday, Feb. 20, 2026

 

MUMBAI – Analysts expect limited upside in the shares of metal and mining companies in the near term, as their prices have run up in the recent months. They are positive on the steel sector, with domestic steel prices rising till at least May-Jun, with growing industrial demand. They also expect base metal prices to remain in range in the coming sessions, and but see volatility in the medium term. They also said that the valuations of metal stocks are expensive, but steel companies are relatively better off.

 

"...the other pockets are becoming more attractive, so the fund managers are now shifting from metals because of higher valuation and lower risk and reward ratios," a senior analyst at a large-sized brokerage firm said. "See, I can take out my money from metals. I can buy an ITC, right? The consumer sector is relatively cheaper. I want to buy something at cheap and sell it on a higher valuation, simple as that," he added.

 

On Friday, the Nifty Metal index ended higher by 147.55 points or 1.3% at 11989.95 points. Hindalco Industries and Jindal Stainless were the top gainers in the index this week. APL Apollo Tubes fell the most this week. The index is expected to face resistance at 12100 points above this, the index will encounter next resistance at 12300 and 12500 points, said Ashish Sherigar, technical and derivatives analyst at NVS Brokerage. On the down side, the Nifty Metal is likely to find support at 11491 points and then at 11250 points in the near term, he added.

  

"...ideally our expectation is that the aluminium prices should stay in range of $2900-$3,100 in the near-term, as marginal cost of production is still lower and world (ex-China/India) demand is still muted due to all the uncertainties due to Trump's policies," said Tushar Chaudhari, senior research analyst at brokerage firm Prabhudas Lilladher. Hindustan Copper fell nearly 4% this week and Friday closed at INR 569.05.

 

When asked about valuations, Chaudhari said, "Valuations are bit on the expensive side. Although within the lot, we like Tata Steel and remain positive with TP (target price) of (INR) 226," he added. He said Tata Steel is expected to benefit from the higher steel prices in Europe and additionally there is an expectation of safeguard duties in the UK, which will also aid UK unit. Tata Steel closed at INR 208.36, up 1.4% from Thursday.

  

"Domestic steel prices are expected to stabilise at higher levels... although as coking coal comes off from the recent highs, we think steel will also relatively come down a bit," Chaudhari said. "But on lower side we have safeguard duty now, so we expect prices to remain better and will help EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation). Domestic steel demand remains strong for the next few months till at least monsoon sets in," he added.

   

The price outlook remains supportive near-to-medium term for the steel companies, JP Morgan was quoted as saying by NDTVProfit India in a post on social media platform X. The firm believes the ongoing rally in steel prices appears to be driven by tight supply, restocking, and rise in coking coal prices, rather than significant improvement in demand. JP Morgan believes Indian steel prices have more room to rise till May, which is the seasonally strong period. HSBC sees domestic steel prices to be below import parity, leaving more room for price hikes.

 

TOP HEADLINES

* SC refuses stay on Karnataka govt's demand against JSW Steel in iron ore case
* BHEL gets INR 12 bln-INR 15 bln contract to set up SAIL's captive power unit
* Skyhigh Sustainable to buy 4.87% stake in Jindal Steel from Gagan Infraenergy
* Hindustan Copper faces INR-9.29-bln compensation demand from Jharkhand govt

 

Following are the resistance and support levels for key metal stocks for next week as per calculations based on their prices on the National Stock Exchange:

 

Company	Price	Week-on-week  change in %	Resistance	Support
Hindalco Industries	935.70	2.90	961.40	888.20
Hindustan Copper	569.05	(-)3.80	581.00	554.60
Hindustan Zinc	589.35	(-)0.60	596.80	578.80
Jindal Steel	1217.10	2.70	1243.70	1189.70
JSW Steel	1235.80	0.30	1267.50	1206.70
Jindal Stainless	761.30	(-)0.40	783.80	727.40
National Aluminium Co.	341.20	(-)2.30	345.20	335.70
NMDC	80.13	0.90	81.50	77.80
Steel Authority of India	158.75	(-)0.30	162.80	153.30
Tata Steel	208.36	2.60	212.00	202.90
Vedanta	682.45	1.30	690.40	668.60
Nifty Metal	11989.95	1.00	12161.30	11726.60
Nifty 50	25571.25	0.40	25822.00	25254.40
BSE Sensex	82814.71	0.20	83643.50	81791.80

 

End

 

Reported by Gopika Balasubramanium

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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