Yes Bank Helps Sensex, Nifty Snap Two-Day Losing Streak

Indian equity benchmarks halted two-day losing streak paced by gains in Yes Bank.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.24 percent or 87 points to 36,195 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index advanced 0.17 percent or 18 points to 10,850.

For most part of the day benchmarks traded on a subdued note in a narrow band. However, a late rally in Yes Bank after it named Ravneet Singh Gill as the new CEO helped benchmarks break out of range and move higher.

Ten of 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE ended lower led by the S&P BSE Telecom Index's 1.97 percent decline. On the other hand, S&P BSE Realty Index was top gainer, up 2 percent.

Mid- and small-cap shares witnessed selling pressure as the S&P BSE MidCap Index fell 0.15 percent and the S&P BSE SmallCap Index declined 0.6 percent.

Shares of the Mumbai-based private sector lender rose as much as 11 percent, the most in over three months, to Rs 220 after it named Ravneet Gill as the new CEO despite its asset quality deteriorating in December quarter.

Key earnings highlights:

• Net interest income up 41 percent at Rs 2,666.41 crore versus 1,889 crore (YoY)
• Net profit declines 7 percent to Rs 1,002 crore versus Rs 1,077 crore (YoY)
• Gross non-performing assets as a percentage of total advances at 2.10 percent versus 1.60 percent (QoQ)
• Net non-performing assets as a percentage of total advances at 1.18 percent versus 0.84 percent (QoQ)
• Provisions for bad loans down 41 percent at Rs 550 crore versus Rs 940 crore (QoQ)

Shares of the oral care products maker recovered from low levels and rose as much as 1.79 percent to Rs 1,330.65 after its profit surpassed Bloomberg consensus estimates in December quarter.

Key earnings highlights:

• Revenues up 6.5 percent at Rs 1,099 crore versus Rs 1,032 crore (YoY); Estimate of Rs 1,118 crore
• EBITDA up 11.6 percent at Rs 315 crore versus Rs 282 crore; Estimate of Rs 307 crore
• EBITDA margin at 28.6 percent versus 27.3 percent; Estimate of 27.5 percent
• Net profit down 12.3 percent at Rs 192 crore versus Rs 171 crore; Estimate of Rs 184 crore
• Volume growth at 7 percent

• Care Ratings: The Mumbai-based credit rating agency rose as much as 2.97 percent to Rs 1,014.40. Trading volume was more than 12 times its 20-day average.
• Syngene International: The Bengaluru-based healthcare services provider rose as much as 2.69 percent to Rs 595. Trading volume was nine times its 20-day average.
• Grindwell Norton: The Mumbai-based abrasive products maker rose as much as 1.11 percent to Rs 575. Trading volume was eight times its 20-day average.
• Ujjivan Financial Services: The Bengaluru-based non-banking finance company rose as much as 7.62 percent to Rs 305.95. Trading volume was more than seven times its 20-day average.

Shares of the Mumbai-based cement maker extended decline and fell as much as 1.88 percent to Rs 3,778.20 after its reported December quarter earnings.

Key earnings highlights (Standalone, YoY):

• Net profit up 6.5 percent at Rs 449 crore versus Rs 421 crore (YoY); Bloomberg estimate of Rs 501 crore
• Revenue up 18 percent at Rs 8,812.72 crore versus Rs 7,471 crore (YoY); Estimate of Rs 8,640 crore
• EBITDA up 9.6 percent at Rs 1,390 crore versus Rs 1,268.5 crore
• Margin at 15.8 percent versus 17 percent
• Other income at Rs 124 crore versus Rs 155.57 crore (YoY)

Shares of the Pune-based optical fiber cable and other telecom products maker held on to gains and rose 0.4 percent to Rs 294 after its profit met Bloomberg consensus estimates.

Key earnings highlights:

• Revenue at Rs 1,330 crore versus estimate of Rs 1,130 crore
• Net profit at Rs 146 crore versus estimate of Rs 138 crore
• Ebitda up 46 percent (YoY) at Rs 304 crore
• Other income at Rs 1043 crore

Shares of the Delhi-based educational services provider extended decline and fell as much as 6.65 percent, the most in over three months, to Rs 87 after its profit missed Bloomberg consensus estimates in December quarter.

Key earnings highlights:

• Revenue at Rs 228 crore versus Rs 210 crore (YoY)
• Net profit at Rs 19.4 crore versus estimate of Rs 23.7 crore
• EBITDA up 8.7 percent at Rs 20 crore versus Rs 18.4 crore
• EBITDA margin flat at 8.8 percent

Shares of the Mumbai-based household products maker fell as much as 2.9 percent after its revenue missed Bloomberg consensus estimates in December quarter.

Key earnings highlights:

• Revenue at Rs 434 crore versus estimate of Rs 464 crore
• Net profit at Rs 48.41 crore versus estimate of Rs 46.70 crore

Shares of the Gurugram-based multiplex theater operator erased gains and fell as much as 1.47 percent to Rs 1,584 after it reported December quarter earnings.

Key earnings highlights:

• Revenue at Rs 843 crore versus Rs 557 crore (YoY)
• Net profit at Rs 51.6 crore versus Rs 28.87 crore (YoY)

Indian equity benchmarks were little changed as gains in Reliance Industries and ITC were offset by losses in ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, HDFC and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

The S&P BSE Sensex was flat at 36,100 and NSE Nifty 50 Index declined 0.1 percent or 11 points to 10,821.

Twelve of 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE were trading lower led by the S&P BSE Telecom Index's 1.5 percent gain. On the flipside, S&P BSE Realty Index was top gainer, up 2.2 percent.

Mid- and small-cap shares were witnessing selling pressure as the S&P BSE MidCap Index declined 0.2 percent and S&P BSE SmallCap Index fell 0.4 percent.

Overall market breadth was negative as 1,389 shares were declining while 819 were advancing on the BSE.

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Shares of the Chennai-based oil exploration company rose as much as 3.54 percent to Rs 73.10 after it won order from ONGC.

Aban Offshore has won order from ONGC for two rigs for three years starting financial year 2019-20, the company said in an exchange filing.

Shares of the Mumbai-based financial services company extended decline and fell as much as 5 percent to Rs 152.55 after its profit dropped in December quarter.

Key earnings highlights:

• Revenue up 26 percent at Rs 2,776 crore versus Rs 2,205 crore (YoY)
• Profit down 4 percent at Rs 226 crore versus Rs 235 crore (YoY)
• Net interest income up 28.8 percent at Rs 1,562.9 crore versus Rs 1,213.5 (YoY)
• Announces dividend of Rs 1.10 per share

Shares of the Mumbai-based adhesives maker fell as much as 3.58 percent, the most in over a month, to Rs 1,091 after its profit declined in December quarter.

Key earnings highlights:

• Revenue up 19.8 percent at Rs 1,848.3 crore.
• Net profit down 8.5 percent at Rs 219.5 crore.
• Ebitda down 9 percent at Rs 336.7 crore.
• Margin at 18.2 percent versus 24 percent.
• Volume growth at 11 percent (standalone)

Shares of the country's second largest private lender fell as much as 1.55 percent to Rs 361.70.

CBI is conducting raids at Videocon offices in Mumbai and Aurangabad in loan case related to Deepak Kochhar, husband of former ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar, news agency Press Trust of India reported.

Nifty's 10,900 call was among the most active option contracts on the National Stock Exchange.

Premium on the contract fell 6.35 percent to Rs 76. Over 3.94 lakh shares were added to the open interest which stood at over 39.64 lakh shares.

Shares of the real estate companies were outperforming benchmarks in an otherwise subdued session.

Gauge of real estate companies on the BSE rose 2.55 percent paced by gains in Oberoi Realty and Godrej Properties.

Shares of the Mumbai-based government-owned bank rose as much as 2.3 percent to Rs 57.90 after Moody's upgraded IDBI Bank’s ratings across various instruments in view of significant capital infusion by LIC.

The long-term local and foreign currency ratings has been upgraded by three notches to ‘Ba2’ from ‘B1’, IDBI Bank said in an exchange filing.

Shares of the Kalol-based plastic water storage tank maker fell as much as 8.28 percent, the most in nearly two months, to Rs 21.60 after its profit halved in December quarter.

Key earnings highlights:

• Revenue down 16.7 percent at Rs 1,110.4 crore.
• Net profit down 50 percent at Rs 25.9 crore.
• Ebitda down 17.6 percent at Rs 152.3 crore.
• Margin at 13.7 percent versus 13.9 percent.

Shares of the Gurugram-based budget airline operator rose as much as 5 percent to Rs 1,165 after its profit surpassed Bloomberg consensus estimates in December quarter.

The operator of IndiGo, returned to profitability in the three months ended December, aided by higher other income, a bigger foreign exchange gain and no tax expense.

Key earnings highlights:

• Revenue up 28 percent at Rs 7,916 crore versus Rs 6,178 crore (YoY); Estimate of Rs 7,970 crore.
• Net profit declined 75 percent to Rs 191 crore versus Rs 762 crore (YoY); Estimate of Rs 160 crore.
• EBITDAR down 19 percent at Rs 1.595 crore versus Rs 1,977 crore (YoY)
• EBITDAR margin at 20.15 percent versus 32 percent (YoY)

Here's what brokerages made of IndiGo's earnings:

JPMorgan

• Maintained ‘Underweight’ with a price target of Rs 940.
• Yield improved, but load factor was the offsetting factor in RASK.
• Positive spread, however, below long cycle average levels.
• Management commentary constructive on outlook as well.

Morgan Stanley

• Maintained ‘Overweight’ with a price target of Rs 1,311.
• Indigo's profits missed estimate on lower volumes.
• Inflection in the yield trend is a larger positive.
• Risk/reward is attractive at current levels.

SBICAP

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 1,234.
• Yield improvement comes at the cost of PLF; no respite from cost pressure.
• December quarter’s performance was weak, but the operating environment is turning benign.
• Tier 2/3 cities and international markets driving growth.

Shares of the country's largest wireless telecom service provider rose as much as 3.83 percent, the most in over a month, to Rs 35.20 after its board of directors approved fund raising plan via rights issue.

Vodafone Idea is planning to raise Rs 25,000 crore of which Vodafone Group Plc will contribute Rs 11,000 crore while Aditya Birla Group will invest Rs 7,250 crore, according to to a statement on Wednesday.

The infusion is expected to be completed by March.

Shares of Info Edge extended gains for the third day and rose as much as 3.5 percent to hit a new all-time high at Rs 1,790.

Trading volume was 5.3 times its 30-day average, Bloomberg data showed. The stock advanced 27 percent so far this year compared to a 0.9 percent gain in the Sensex.

Shares of the Anand Mahindra-led company fell for the fourth day and is set for its longest losing streak in over a month. The stock fell as much as 1.4 percent to Rs 686.05, its lowest levels since December 2017.

The stock declined 6 percent in the past five days and declined 12 percent in the past 30 days. The scrip traded at 14 times its estimated earnings per share for the coming year, according to Bloomberg data.

Shares of Bharti Infratel fluctuated between gains and losses to trade 2.4 percent lower at Rs 270.35.

The company’s net profit rose 8 percent on a sequential basis to Rs 648 crore during the three months ended December, according to its stock exchange filing.

Key Earnings Highlights (Q3, QoQ)

• Revenue down 0.2 percent at Rs 3,640 crore.
• Net profit up 8 percent at Rs 648 crore.
• Ebitda up 0.5 percent at Rs 1513 crore.
• Margin at 41.2 percent versus 41.6 percent.

Here’s what analsyts had to say about Bharti Infratel after the company announced its quarterly results:

CLSA

• Maintained ‘Outperform’ with a price target of Rs 315.
• December quarter results were ahead of estimates; cost controls support margins.
• Rise in rent per operator driving revenue surprise.
• Expect tenancy growth to return.

UBS

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 355.
• December quarter beat estimates aided by better rental realisation and exit charge
• Ebitda growth driven both by higher revenues and lower opex.
• Shares are attractively valued.

Ambit

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 352.
• Infratel’s results were ahead of our and consensus’ muted expectations.
• Discussion on exit penalties to dominate in the conference call.
• Change of ownership and increased rollouts by incumbents is key catalyst.

Indian equity benchmarks fluctuated in the open as gains in ITC Ltd. countered losses in HDFC Ltd.

The S&P BSE Sensex Index traded a little changed at 36,102.10 as of 9:22 a.m. and the NSE Nifty 50 Index traded at 10,827.

The market breadth was tilted in favour of buyers. About 800 stocks advanced and 640 shares declined on National Stock Exchange.

Six out of 11 sectoral gauges compiled by NSE fell, led by the NSE Nifty Metal Index’s 0.55 percent decline. On the flipside, the NSE Nifty FMCG Index was the top sectoral gainer, up 0.79 percent.

The Indian rupee gained for the second day against the U.S. dollar. The home currency appreciated as much as 0.18 percent to 71.20 against the greenback.

Indian bonds are likely to stay in a range with traders awaiting the RBI's open market purchase of Rs 10,000 crore later today. Uncertainties over the size of a potential farm package in the budget continue to keep bond investors edgy.

The Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal was named interim finance chief days before the govt is scheduled to present its final budget before national elections. Goyal will give the budget speech on Feb. 1 instead of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who’s been unwell, the ministry's spokesman DS Malik said. The yield on the most-traded 2028 debt rose five basis points to end at 7.58 percent on Wednesday.

F&O Cues

• Nifty January futures closed trading at 10855, premium of 23 points.
• Max OI for January series at 11,000 Call, OI at 43.1 lakh shares.
• Max OI for January series at 10,800 Put, OI at 32.5 lakh shares.

Stocks In F&O Ban

• In ban: Jain Irrigation, Jet Airways, Reliance Capital
• New in ban: Jain Irrigation
• Out of ban: Adani Power

Put-Call Ratio

• Nifty PCR at 1.43 versus 1.53
• Nifty Bank PCR at 0.86 versus 1.13

On Bharti Infratel

CLSA

• Maintained ‘Outperform’ with a price target of Rs 315.
• December quarter results were ahead of estimates; cost controls support margins.
• Rise in rent per operator driving revenue surprise.
• Expect tenancy growth to return.

UBS

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 355.
• December quarter beat estimates aided by better rental realisation and exit charge
• Ebitda growth driven both by higher revenues and lower opex.
• Shares are attractively valued.

Ambit

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 352.
• Infratel’s results were ahead of our and consensus’ muted expectations.
• Discussion on exit penalties to dominate in the conference call.
• Change of ownership and increased rollouts by incumbents is key catalyst.

On ITC

CLSA

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 400.
• Operating performance broadly in line.
• Strong cigarette volume growth; estimate cigarette volume growth at 8 percent.
• Strong FMCG and paperboard but Agri remains a drag.

Macquarie

• Maintained ‘Outperform’ with a price target of Rs 376.
• Cigarette volumes growth of 8 percent for December quarter; strong volume recovery is cornerstone of turnaround.
• Believe pressure on cigarette margins will subside going forward.
• Strong performance in rest of the businesses.

On United Spirits

Macquarie

• Maintained ‘Underperform’ with a price target of Rs 511
• Operating income missed due to lower gross margin; consensus downgrades likely.
• Believe pressure on gross margin is due to higher input cost inflation and lower pricing.
• Expect A&P spend to remain high on higher competitive intensity.

JPMorgan

• Maintained ‘Overweight’ with a price target of Rs 680.
• December quarter’s first cut: Unexciting operational performance.
• Gross margin moderation on a sequential basis was a negative.
• Margins declined due to higher cost of goods, price reductions and higher trade spend.

Morgan Stanley

• Maintained ‘Overweight’ with a price target of Rs 700.
• December quarter review: Strong revenues, but margins disappoint.
• Continue strong volume growth momentum in the 'Prestige and above' segment.
• Flat gross margins, however, disappointed in December quarter.

On InterGlobe Aviation

JPMorgan

• Maintained ‘Underweight’ with a price target of Rs 940.
• Yield improved, but load factor was the offsetting factor in RASK.
• Positive spread, however, below long cycle average levels.
• Management commentary constructive on outlook as well.

Morgan Stanley

• Maintained ‘Overweight’ with a price target of Rs 1,311.
• Indigo's profits missed estimate on lower volumes.
• Inflection in the yield trend is a larger positive.
• Risk/reward is attractive at current levels.

SBICAP

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 1,234.
• Yield improvement comes at the cost of PLF; no respite from cost pressure.
• December quarter’s performance was weak, but the operating environment is turning benign.
• Tier 2/3 cities and international markets driving growth.

More Calls

CLSA on Oberoi Realty

• Maintained ‘Buy’; hiked price target to Rs 543 from Rs 481.
• Results below estimates on project mix change.
• Lease income a bright spot, capex being stepped up.
• Price target hiked to reflect lower cap rates and discount rates.

CLSA on Tata Motors

• Maintained ‘Sell’ with a price target of Rs 150.
• Tata’s India business value has cyclically peaked.
• Brexit uncertainty rising with no deal thus far and March deadline approaching.
• JLR volumes remain under pressure.

Macquarie on Ujjivan

• Maintained ‘Outperform’; hiked price target to Rs 350 from Rs 290.
• Strong performance across metrics.
• Company did not see a liquidity crunch and foresees no impact from loan waivers.
• No change to EPS; roll forward target to 2020-21.

JPMorgan on Pidilite

• Maintained ‘Neutral’ with a price target of Rs 1,120.
• December quarter review: Earnings miss on sharp margin contraction despite revenue beat.
• Margin delivery weighed down by input cost inflation.
• Margin miss likely drive earnings downgrades, but sequentially expect margins to start moving up.

Emkay on Radico Khaitan

• Maintained ‘Buy’ with a price target of Rs 547.
• Another strong quarter; premiumization-led margin expansion.
• Positives: strong growth, expansion in operating margins and debt reduction.
• Stock available cheap for a consumer name.

• KPIT Technologies ex-date for scheme of amalgamation (spin off).
• Seamec, Vivimed Labs and GTL Infra to move into short term ASM Framework.
• CESC Ventures, Spencer’s Retail ex-date for share listing.

• Hathway Cable & Datacom: Norges Bank sold 2.27 crore shares or 2.64 percent equity at Rs 31.65 per share.

Ratnamani Metal Tubes

• Kotak Mahindra MF acquired 6.89 lakh shares or 1.48 percent equity at Rs 780 per share.
• Nalanda India Fund sold 7.5 lakh shares or 1.61 percent equity at Rs 781.65 each.

• Xelpmoc Design & Tech get 45 percent demand for shares offered on first day sale, offer close Jan. 25.

Nifty Earnings To Watch

• Yes Bank
• UltraTech Cement

Other Earnings To Watch

• Bharat Bijlee
• Biocon
• Century Enka
• Colgate Palmolive
• Hatsun Agro Product
• ICRA
• Garware Polyester
• indal Saw
• Jyothy Laboratories
• Kokuyo Camlin
• KRBL
• MphasiS
• NIIT
• Onward Technologies
• Pfizer
• PNB Housing Finance
• PVR
• Quess Corp
• Reliance Power
• Sharda Cropchem
• Sintex Industries
• Sterlite Technologies
• Supreme Industries
• Tijaria Polypipes
• Zee Media Corporation
• Ion Exchange
• Nelco
• Newgen Software Technologies
• Poddar Pigments
• Pudumjee Paper Products
• Punjab Chemicals & Crop Protection
• VST Industries

Earnings Reaction To Watch

InterGlobe Aviation (Q3, YoY)

• Revenue up 28 percent to Rs 7,916 crore.
• Net Profit down 75 percent to Rs 191 crore.
• Ebitdar down 19 percent to Rs 1,595 crore.
• Ebitdar Margin at 20.15 percent versus 32 percent.

Bharti Infratel (Q3, QoQ)

• Revenue down 0.2 percent at Rs 3,640 crore.
• Net profit up 8 percent at Rs 648 crore.
• Ebitda up 0.5 percent at Rs 1513 crore.
• Margin at 41.2 percent versus 41.6 percent.

Pidilite Industries (Q3, YoY)

• Revenue up 19.8 percent at Rs 1,848.3 crore.
• Net profit down 8.5 percent at Rs 219.5 crore.
• Ebitda down 9 percent at Rs 336.7 crore.
• Margin at 18.2 percent versus 24 percent.
• Volume growth at 11 percent (standalone)

United Spirits (Q3, YoY)

• Revenue up 10.5 percent at Rs 2,501.2 crore.
• Net profit up 42.8 percent at Rs 192.4 crore.
• Ebitda up 27.8 percent at Rs 348.1 crore.
• Margin at 13.9 percent versus 12 percent.
• Other Income at Rs 61.4 crore versus Rs 23.6 crore.
• Exceptional loss of Rs 20 crore versus exceptional loss of 12.6 crore.

Hathway Cable & Datacom (Q3, YoY)

• Revenue down 2.7 percent at Rs 134.9 crore.
• Net profit down 73.2 percent at Rs 6.4 crore.
• Ebitda down 14.5 percent at Rs 51.4 crore.
• Margin at 38.1 percent versus 43.3 percent.

Navin Fluorine (Q3, YoY)

• Revenue up 2 percent at Rs 226 crore.
• Net profit down 18.7 percent at Rs 38.8 crore.
• Ebitda flat at Rs 52.4 crore.
• Margin at 23.2 percent versus 23.7 percent.
• Other income of Rs 23 crore in base quarter.

Ujjivan Financial Services (Q3, YoY)

• Total interest income up 33.4 percent at Rs 512.6 crore.
• Net interest income up 30.2 percent at Rs 252 crore.
• Net profit up 54 percent at Rs 45.2 crore.
• Net interest margin flat at 11.8 percent.
• Loan Book up 31.8 percent at Rs 9,349 crore.

Thirumalai Chemicals (Q3, YoY)

• Revenue down 6.1 percent at Rs 323.6 crore.
• Net profit down 77.9 percent at Rs 11.4 crore.
• Ebitda down 66.8 percent at Rs 26.4 crore.
• Margin at 8.2 percent versus 23.1 percent

JM Financial (Q3, YoY)

• Net Interest Income up 5.6 percent at Rs 519.9 crore.
• Net profit down 12.6 percent at Rs 137.5 crore.
• Other income of Rs 16.4 crore.
• AUM Of mutual fund schemes at Rs 11,364 crore.

Reliance Communications (Q3, QoQ)

• Revenue up 9.5 percent at Rs 1,070 crore.
• Net loss at Rs 238 crore versus net loss at Rs 130 crore.
• Ebitda up 43.1 percent at Rs 146 crore.
• Margin at 13.6 percent versus 10.4 percent.

Sintex Plastics Technology (Q3, YoY)

• Revenue down 16.7 percent at Rs 1,110.4 crore.
• Net profit down 50 percent at Rs 25.9 crore.
• Ebitda down 17.6 percent at Rs 152.3 crore.
• Margin at 13.7 percent versus 13.9 percent.

Everest Industries (Q3, YoY)

• Revenue up 5.5 percent at Rs 307.3 crore.
• Net profit up 22.3 percent at Rs 11.5 crore.
• Ebitda up 13.2 percent at Rs 21.4 crore.
• Margin at 7 percent versus 6.5 percent.

• Moody’s upgraded IDBI Bank’s ratings across various instruments in view of significant capital infusion by LIC. The long-term local and foreign currency ratings has been upgraded by three notches to ‘Ba2’ from ‘B1’.
• Infosys partnered with HPE GreenLake for consumption- based IT models for smart infra investments.
• Bharat Financial Inclusion completed its sixth direct assignment worth Rs 832.3 crore to a public sector bank in financial year 2019.
• MEP Infra’s arm entered into a concession contract with NHAI for HAM project in Maharashtra for Rs 567.8 crore. The appointed date for the project stands at Jan. 21.
• Dena Bank clarified on the news that it is selling prime properties worth Rs 540 crore and the bank initiated the process of the sale of these non-core assets after taking necessary approvals.
• Lakshmi Vilas Bank reappointed Parthasarathi Mukherjee as its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of the bank for two years with effect from Jan. 25.
• Apollo Microsytems bags supplied order of Rs 13 crore from Bharat Dynamics.
• Persistent Systems to consider share-buyback proposal on Jan. 27.

• The World Economic Forum, the annual gathering of global leaders in politics, business and culture, continues in Davos, Switzerland.
• There are monetary-policy decisions for the Bank of Korea and the European Central Bank, both Thursday.

• Brent crude ended lower for the second day, down 0.59 percent to $61.14 per barrel.
• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.7 percent to $52.41 a barrel.
• Gold was little changed at $1,283.36 an ounce.

London Metal Exchange

• Aluminium ended 1.38 percent lower.
• Nickel halted a two-day decline, up 0.99 percent.
• Tin ended 1.35 percent higher.
• Lead ended higher for the fourth day, up 0.35 percent.
• Zinc ended 1.71 percent higher.
• Copper ended a two-day decline, up 0.28 percent.

Good Morning!

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, rose 0.28 percent to 10,871.50 as of 8:35 a.m.

Asian stocks drifted on Thursday as investors awaited fresh developments on U.S.-China trade talks and signals on how deep the global economic slowdown will be. Shares in Seoul edged up, while China and Hong Kong slipped and Tokyo gauges fluctuated.

Short on time? well, then listen to this podcast for a quick summary of All You Need To Know before the opening bell.