Steel Stocks Outlook for the week (04-08.06.2012)

Steel Stocks Outlook for the week (04-08.06.2012)

Stocks of major steel companies are likely to trade with a negative bias next week tailing the key indices as slowdown in domestic and global economy will weigh on investor sentiment. The Indian economy grew at 5.3% in Jan-Mar, its slowest pace in over seven years and was way below consensus estimate of 6.1%. The GDP had expanded 6.1% in Oct-Dec and 9.2% a year ago. Also, with uncertainty over the European political scenario and slowdown in China, the macroeconomic picture globally remains gloomy. Rollovers in the Nifty on the day of expiry were at 54%, which also point to investor concern on uncertainty in the market. Steel Authority of India Ltd and Tata Steel saw high rollover of short positions to the June series, at 86.08% and 86.95% respectively.

This week, SAIL surprised the market by posting better than expected results on better volumes and improved realisations. The public sector steel maker's Jan-Mar net profit rose 3% on year to 15.77 bln rupees. Net sales for the quarter were up 12.17% on year at 150.79 bln rupees compared to 133.39 bln rupees a year ago. Net sales realisation improved to 38,717 rupees per tn from 36,000 rupees. However, remain worried about the delays in expansion plans of the company and high operational cost.