New Delhi, March 19 -- Most metal stocks have posted strong gains in recent days, lifting the sectoral index, which had been under pressure for five consecutive months.

As of March 18 close, the Nifty Metal index has gained about 10 per cent this month, significantly outperforming the Nifty 50 index which has risen a little over 3 per cent.

Some of the index majors such as Vedanta (up 17 per cent), Tata Steel (13 per cent), Hindustan Zinc (12 per cent), Jindal Stainless (11 per cent), Adani Enterprises (10 per cent) and Hindalco (10 per cent) have seen robust gains this month.

Barring APL Apollo Tubes, which is down about 0.40 per cent, all components of the Nifty Metal index are in the green this month, with gains ranging from 4 to 17...