MUMBAI (Commodity Online): Most Indian metal stocks fell on the bourses on Friday morning as the metal prices took a plunge on London Metal Exchange on 21 January 2010.

Some of the heavyweight metal stocks including, National Aluminium Company (NALCO) (BOM:532234) fell by over 6% in the opening trading sessions, while it recovered marginally in the later-morning trades at Rs.421.15 with loss of 3.9%.

Similarly, steel stocks including, Ispat Industries Ltd (BOM:500305) lost by over 5.5% in the morning and traded at Rs.20.80 at the later morning-trades. Tata Steel, JSW Steel and Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren were among the top losers on the metal index on the BSE today.

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Tata Steel (BOM:500470) tanked by 3.24% to Rs.627.40, while JSW Steel (BOM:500228) fell by 3.49% to Rs.1028. Welspun Gujarat, however, fell initially by 3.71% recovered to positive trades with marginal gain of 0.4% at Rs.267 in the later-morning trades.

Among the copper stocks, Sterlite Industries (BOM:500900) was trading with marginal loss of 0.06% at Rs.820.80, while Birla group major, Hindalco Industries (BOM:500440) traded at Rs.160.45 down by 1.5%.

However, Hindustan Copper (BOM:513599) posted heavy gains of over 7% to Rs.591.70 in the later-morning trades on the BSE. The sectoral index, BSE metals was down by 1% to 17,317.64 points and the benchmark index, Sensex too remained weak at 16,911.35 points with loss of 139 points or 0.84% from Thursday’s close.

The international metal prices remained weak as Shanghai copper fell on Friday, 22 January 2010, tracking London's sharp drop in the previous session.

Shanghai's benchmark third-month copper futures contract hit 59,380 yuan a tonne, its lowest since 13 January 2010, before recovering to 59,460 yuan a tonne, down 2.2%. Shanghai copper is on course for a 1.6% decline from a week earlier, the biggest weekly drop in 6 weeks.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange gained USD 29 to USD 7,294 a tonne, after tumbling to a 4-week low of USD 7,220 tonnes in the previous session, heading for a 1.8% weekly loss, its biggest since mid-December 2009.

Copper, used largely in power and construction, is considered a gauge of the economic activity. Commodity prices fell because the proposed US regulations were seen as diminishing capital flows from banks, which have provided liquidity for investors. Obama's plan proposes to restrict banks' ownership and investment in hedge funds for proprietary trading, which is for banks' own profit and not related to serving customers. The rules would restrict some banks' most lucrative and risky operations, which Obama blames for helping to cause the global financial crisis.

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