Sensex, Nifty Log Best Week In A Month Aided By I.T., Metal, Realty Stocks; FPIs Turn Net Sellers

India's stock benchmarks snapped a worst weekly losing streak in five months, aided by information technology, metal, realty, media, pharma stocks ahead of the September quarter earnings season which begins on October 10. The weekly gains also come amid surge in oil prices following OPEC+ bloc's decision to cut supply in a bid to arrest the slide in oil prices. Focus shifts to U.S. monthly jobs data scheduled to announced later today.

The stock indices opened and closed the week with losses, but gained in the other sessions (Tuesday and Thursday) in a truncated week.

Sectorally, information technology, metal, realty and media indices gained the most in the week gone by. Only Auto and FMCG indices declined.

On Friday, the Sensex erased most of intraday losses to 58,191.29. The 30-stock gauge lost 0.64% to an intraday low of 57,851.15. The Nifty 50 fell 0.1% to 17,314.65.

Today 21 of Nifty 50 stocks rose, while 29 fell. Titan, Power Grid, IndusInd Bank, ONGC and Grasim were the top gainers while Tata Consumer Products, Coal India, BPCL, M&M and SBI declined the most among the index stocks.

The MidCap index almost mirrored its larger peers while SmallCap measure outperformed, rising 0.30%. Eleven of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by BSE declined with Energy and Oil & Gas measures sliding the most. On the flipside, the Consumer Durables index gained over 2%.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of bulls. About 1,943 stocks rose, 1,511 fell and 99 remained unchanged.

"Markets took a pause after the recent rebound and ended almost unchanged, in absence of any major trigger", Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Reliagare Broking wrote in a note. He added "global markets, especially the US, are still not offering indications for a sustained recovery so volatility is here to stay and participants should plan overnight positions accordingly. Meanwhile, on the index front, the tone would remain positive till the Nifty holds 17,100. We feel the prudent approach is to focus on top-performing stocks from across sectors and use intermediate dips to add them instead of chasing laggards, in hope of a rebound".

Overseas investors ended the week as net sellers on Friday. They net sold after three days of continuous net buying.

As per data from the National Stock Exchange, foreign portfolio investors net sold equities worth 2,250.77 crore.

On the contrary, Domestic institutional investors turned net buyers and bought equities worth Rs 545.25 crore.

Institutions have net bought Rs 4,398.58 crore worth of equities in October so far and net sold Rs 33,428.03 crore worth of Indian equities till date in 2022.

Yield on the 10-year bond rose 7bps to 7.52% during the session, just 10bps off three-year high of 7.62%.

The 10-year bond yield trimmed gains and eased off to 7.46%, at the close. This is the third consecutive week in which the 10-year bond yield has risen.

Source: Bloomberg

Indian currency depreciated 53 paise to a new low of 82.42 during the session.

The Rupee trimmed some of the losses to 82.33, a new closing low. The fall in the Rupee and bonds come amid higher crude oil prices and a stronger dollar.

The Rupee has fallen against the U.S. dollar in each of the last three weeks.

Source: Bloomberg

ITC has 1.03 million shares change hands in a large trade.

Details of buyers, sellers are not known immediately.

Source: Bloomberg

• FII Flow was negative for the fortnight ended September 30 after four consecutive fortnight of inflows. Net flow in 2022 stands at $22.16 billion.

• Finance services sector saw largest outflow at $859 million.

• Software & Services sector, Energy and Material sector continued to see large outflows

• FMCG, Capital Goods sector witnessed inflows for sixth straight fortnight. while Telecommunication services saw the largest inflow at $200 million.

Source: Emkay Global, NSDL

Non-Life Insurers Total

• Sept ’22 YoY – 2.7%

• Sept ’22 MoM – (6.7%)

• H1FY23 – 15.3%

General insurers

• Sept ’22 YoY – (0.11%)

• Sept ’22 MoM – 11.1%

• H1FY23 – 15%

SAHI (Standalone Health Insurers)

• Sept ’22 YoY – 24.3%

• Sept ’22 MoM – 6.4%

• H1FY23 – 26.7%

Specialised PSU Insurers (State-run)

• Sept ’22 YoY – 12.7%

• Sept ’22 MoM – (69%)

• H1FY23 – 5.8%

ICICI Lombard

• Sept ’22 YoY – 2.1%

• Sept ’22 MoM – (7.2%)

• H1FY23 – 22.6%

New India Assurance

• Sept ’22 YoY – (15%)

• Sept ’22 MoM – 14.7%

• H1FY23 – 2.9%

Star Health

• Sept ’22 YoY – 10.2%

• Sept ’22 MoM – 6%

• H1FY23 – 11.5%

• Suzlon energy has said that Sun Pharma’s Dilip Shangvi has conveyed his intention to fully participate in the Rs 1,200-crore rights issue of the company to the promoters.

• “It is my intention to fully participate in the Rights Issue of Suzlon along with subscribing for additional shares. I remain committed to the vision of the Late Mr. Tulsi Tanti,” Shangvi said.

• Shangvi holds an approximate 23% stake in Suzlon currently.

Source: Exchange filing

Shares of NTPC erased intraday losses. The company announced on Thursday that it signed a MoU with GE Gas Power.

Through the MoU, the two companies intend to demonstrate the feasibility of the Hydrogen co-firing blended with natural gas in GE's 9E gas turbines installed at NTPC's Kawas combined-cycle gas power plant in Gujarat. Under this collaboration, the two companies will jointly explore the pathways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the Kawas gas power plant.

Of the 27 analysts tracking the company, 25 maintain 'buy' and two recommend 'hold'. The return potential of the stock is 14%.

Source: Press Release, BloombergNon-Life Insurers Revenue- Sept'22 Update

Total Life Insurers

• Sept 2022 YoY: 9%

• Sept 2022 MoM: 5.3%

• H1FY2022-23: 27.8%

Private insurers

• Sept 2022 YoY: 1%

• Sept 2022 MoM: 2.8%

• H1FY2022-23: 23.3%

LIC

• Sept 2022 YoY: 20.6%

• Sept 2022 MoM: 8.6%

• H1FY2022-23: 33.5%

HDFC Life

• Sept 2022 YoY: (4.3%)

• Sept 2022 MoM: (4.9%)

• H1FY2022-23: 10.8%

SBI Life

• Sept 2022 YoY: (4.6%)

• Sept 2022 MoM: 6.2%

• H1FY2022-23: 21.9%

ICICI Pru Life

• Sept 2022 YoY: (6.5%)

• Sept 2022 MoM: (7%)

• H1FY2022-23: 10.8%

Source: Life Insurance Council

European markets open lower ahead of U.S. monthly jobs report due to be released later today.

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of Macrotech Developers Ltd. rose over 2.2% in a weak market and are on course to gain for the fourth session in a row.

Trading volume is thrice the 30-day average.

Of the 15 analysts tracking the company, 12 maintain 'buy', two suggest 'hold' and one recommends 'sell'. The return potential of the stock is 31.7%.

Over the last two days, Edelweiss Capital, Jefferies, Antique Stock Broking, ICICI Securities and Kotak Securities reiterated 'buy'. The brokerages remained bullish after the realty firm reported 57% increase in its sales booking during the quarter-ended September to Rs 3,148 crore Vs. Rs 2,003 crore YoY on strong housing demand despite a rise in mortgage rate, on Thursday.

This is the best ever Q2 pre-sales performance for the company. This is also the second time in the last three quarters that the company clocked over Rs 3,000 crore in pre-sales.

H1 sales came in at Rs 6,004 crore, 52% of the full-year guidance while collections rose 24% YoY.

Jefferies, in its note on October 6, raised its FY23 pre-sales estimate by 5% to Rs 12,000 crore after the company's strong Q2. Despite rising interest rates, the global brokerage firm said that the affordability is still better than average and the underlying demand remained strong. It also noted that the new project signings and return of capital from UK investments was ahead of schedule. The company added four new projects during the quarter with 2.2 million square feet of saleable area and gross sales worth Rs 3,100 crore.

Motilal Oswal also said that the company managed to maintain its sales momentum is a seasonally weak quarter

Kotak Institutional Equities said that the company's performance across key parameters has been ahead of peers with strong showing in terms of new business development, pre-sales, delivery, cash generation as well as de-leveraging.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing, Brokerage notes

Indian stock benchmarks declined, dragged by losses in FMCG, metals, banks and commodities.

The Sensex fell nearly 300 points (0.5%) to trade at 57,938.01. The Nifty 50 lost 0.5% to 17,244.10. Of the Nifty 50 constituents, 37 stocks fell and 13 rose. Titan Co., Hero MotoCorp Ltd., Bajaj Auto Ltd., Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Bharti Airtel and Oil and Natural Gas Corp. were the top gainers.

JSW Steel Ltd., Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd., Ultratech Cement Ltd., Tata Consumer and State Bank of India Ltd. were the top laggards.

The mid-cap index underperformed its larger peers losing 0.7%, while the small-cap gauge outperformed the Sensex and Nifty 50, falling 0.2%. Seventeen of the 19 sectoral indices compiled by BSE Ltd. declined, with metal index falling nearly 1.5%.

The market breadth was skewed in favour of the bears. About 1,711 stocks fell, 1,534 rose and 143 remained unchanged.

Shares of Venus Pipes & Tubes Ltd. rose over 6% and are on course to gain for the second day. The stock added over 8.6% on Thursday.

The sharp uptick comes after Centrum Broking initiated coverage of the stock with a 'buy' recommendation on Thursday. The brokerage has set a price target of Rs 764, an implied upside of 24.29%. Centrum Broking is the first brokerage to cover the stock.

Centrum Broking said that the Gujarat-based maker of stainless steel pipes and tubes is an evolving growth story. The company which witnessed good growth with sales CAGR of 48% and EBITDA CAGR of 61%, is in the process of increased capacity to 2.8x to 33.6 ktpa .

Post the capacity ramp up, the gap in EBTIDA margins between Venus Pipes and market leader Ratnamani Pipes will gradually shrink and drive EBITDA to 46% CAGR to Rs 1,520 crore in FY25E (thrice the value in FY22).

Trading volume on the stock is nearly twice the 30-day average.

Source: Centrum Broking note, Bloomberg

Shares of Maruti Suzuki rose over 1.6% and are on course to gain for the third day in a row.

The rise comes after Goldman Sachs assumed coverage on the stock with a 'buy' recommendation, citing improving growth prospects.

Goldman Sachs has set a 12-month target price opf Rs 10,500 apiece on the stock (implied upside of 20.7%).

Goldman Sachs, in a note on October 6, said that investment case on India's biggest carmaker remained attractive as it saw the company entering a sweet spot in new model launches like Grand Vitara, Jimny, Baleno crossover.

Of the 54 analysts tracking the company, 40 maintain 'buy', seven suggest 'hold' and seven recommend 'sell'. The return potential of the stock is 11.2%.

Source: Goldman Sachs note, Bloomberg

SEBI grants in-principle approval to BSE for introducing Social Stock Exchange

The Social Stock Exchange will be introduced as a separate segment on BSE

Source: Exchange filing

Lupin has announced that it reached an agreement with global agencies such as Unitaid, The Aurum Institute, the Clinton Health Access Initiative to support Tuberculosis prevention treatment.

The treatment will be rolled out in 138 countries, including many low and middle income countries.

Lupin will introduce two new formulations, a fixed-dose combination of Rifapentine plus Isoniazid and Rifapentine 300 mg standalone tablets, at an affordable price.

Source: Exchange filing

Shares of Quess Corp jumped over 3.25%, most since Tuesday. Trading volume is more than twice the 30-day average.

The rise comes after the company's board approved disinvestment of 53% of equity investment held by the company in its non-material subsidiary Simpliance Technologies Pvt. Ltd. to Aparajitha Corporate Services. The deal is valued at an enterprise value of Rs 120 core.

Of the 10 analysts tracking the company, eight maintain 'buy', one suggests 'hold' and one recommends 'sell'. The return potential of the stock is 27%.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing

Yield on the 10-year bond rose 5bps to 7.51% during the session. Over the last two days, the 10-year bond yield has risen 15bps.

The 10-Year is now just 12bps shy off three-year high of 7.62%.

The spike in yield (fall in bond) comes after India bonds failed to be included in JPMorgan's bond yield.

JPMorgan cited investment hurdles that must be resolved for India bond inclusion to occur, on Tuesday

Source: Bloomberg

Shares of RattanIndia Enterprises jumped nearly 11%, most in over seven weeks since August 17. Trading volume is nearly five times the 30-day average.

The sharp uptick comes after the company announced that it will acquire 100% shareholding in electric motorcycles market leader Revolt Motors. The company had earlier bought 33.84% shareholding in Revolt with an option to further raise its shareholding.

Revolt Motors is the highest selling electric motorcycles in the company and has expanded its pan India footprint with 29 dealership stores, over the past 12 months.

Source: Exchange filing, Bloomberg

Shares of Varroc Engineering lost over 9%, steepest intraday decline in over five months since May 3. Trading volume is nearly 22 times the 30-day average.

The fall comes after French automotive supplier Plastic Omnium announced that it completed the acquisition of Varroc's automotive lighting systems business from Varroc Engineering. The 520 million euros transaction was adjusted downwards by 80 million euros to reflect the weakened market conditions triggered by inflation and supply chain disruptions. Varroc's Automotive Lighting Systems (VLS) will be consolidated into Plastic Omnium's accounts today.

VLS had sales of nearly 0.8 billion euros in 2021

Of the 10 analysts tracking the automotive component maker's stock, eight maintain 'buy', one suggest 'hold' and one recommends 'sell'. The overall consensus price of eight of the analysts tracked by Bloomberg implies an upside of 32.5%.

Source: Press release, Bloomberg

Shares of Biocon fell over 2.7%, most in nearly two weeks since September 26. Trading volume is nearly quadruple the 30-day average. The stock is on course to lose nearly 5% over the last two sessions.

The decline comes after the company said that European medical regulator found one major 'deficiency' at its Bengaluru API plant, before market open on Friday.

Biocon said the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Healthcare conducted a good manufacturing practices inspection of its API plant in Bengaluru from September 12-14.

Biocon said the regulatory body listed one deficiency cited under the category “major”. The company also added that it will respond to the agency with appropriate corrective and preventive actions.

Of the 22 analysts tracking the company, 14 maintain 'buy', four suggest 'hold' and four recommend 'sell'. The return potential of the stock is 32%.

Source: Exchange filing, Bloomberg

Shares of SBI Cards and Payment Services gained nearly 2% on Friday after the company appointed Rashmi Mohanty as chief financial officer of the company with effect from Oct. 21.

Mohanty is currently the group chief financial officer and whole time director of Clix Capital.

Of the 29 analysts tracking the company, 25 maintain 'buy', none suggest 'hold' and two recommend 'sell'. The return potential of the stock is 28.4%.

Source: Bloomberg, Exchange filing

Shares of Kalyan Jewellers jumped over 4%, most since Tuesday to a record Rs 103.7 apiece. Trading volume is nearly thrice the 30-day average.

The rise comes after company said that its consolidated revenue grew nearly 20% YoY in Q2 and 50% YoY In H1FY2022-23, in its Q2 business update before market open on Friday.

Consolidated revenue during the recently concluded quarter grew at a CAGR of 18% over last three years.

India standalone operations recorded revenue growth of 14% YoY in Q2 while revenue growth in H1FY2022-23 was approximately 48% YoY.

Q2 was positive for the company with robust operating momentum, amid heightened levels of competitive intensity across various markets.

Revenue from India operations in Q2 grew at a CAGR of approximately 20% over the last three years.

Consumer sentiment remained buoyant in the Middle East driven by overall recovery in economic activity in the region.

All six analysts tracking the company maintain 'buy'. The return potential of the stock is 14.7%.

Source: Exchange filing, Bloomberg

India's stock benchmarks opened lower, amid fall in global equities ahead of U.S. monthly payrolls report, weak earnings by Samsung Electronics and rise in oil prices.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.24% (140 points) to 58,081.73. The NSE Nifty 50 also declined by similar magnitude to 17,302.35. Today 18 of Nifty 50 stocks rose, one remained unchanged and 31 declined. Titan, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, Apollo Hospitals and Cipla were the top gainers. Hindalco, ICICI Bank, BPCL, IndusInd Bank, TCS were the top losers.

The broader indices outperformed with S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap little changed. Barring S&P BSE Consumer Discretionary and Consumer Durables, all the other 17 sectoral indices compiled by BSE Ltd. declined with Bankex, Metal gauges falling nearly 1%. On the flipside, the S&P BSE Consumer Durables jumped over 2.5%.

The market breadth is skewed slightly in the favour of bulls. About 1,175 stocks rose, 1,049 fell and 98 remained unchanged.

Yield on the 10-year bond rose 4bps to 7.49% at the open.

Source: Bloomberg

Indian currency fell 35 paise to a fresh low of 82.24 against the U.S. dollar.

The decline comes amid a jump in oil prices aided by OPEC+'s production cut.

Source: Bloomberg

• Consolidated revenue grew nearly 20% YoY in Q2, and 50% in H1 .

• Consolidated revenue during the recently concluded quarter grew at a CAGR of 18% over last three years.

• India standalone operations recorded revenue growth of 14% YoY in Q2 while revenue growth in H1FY2022-23 was approximately 48% YoY.

• Q2 was positive for the company with robust operating momentum, amid heightened levels of competitive intensity across various markets.

• Revenue from India operations in Q2 grew at a CAGR of approximately 20% over the last three years.

• Consumer sentiment remained buoyant in the Middle East driven by overall recovery in economic activity in the region.

Source: Exchange filing

The Ministry of Commerce has notified a credit guarantee scheme for startups to provide collateral free debt funding.

Maximum guarantee cover per borrower shall not exceed Rs 10 crore.

Startups that have a stable revenue stream and are not in default to any lending/investing institution are eligible for the scheme.

Source: Gazette of India

Biocon said the European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and Healthcare conducted a good manufacturing practices inspection of its API plant in Bengaluru from September 12-14.

Biocon said EDQM listed one deficiency cited under the category “major”.

Biocon to respond to the agency with appropriate corrective and preventive actions.

Source: Exchange filing

• Electronics Mart: The IPO was subscribed 7.57 times on its second day. Non-institutional investors (11.74 times) and retail investors (7.81 times) led the demand for the Rs 500-crore issue. The QIB basket was subscribed 4.01 times. The price band for the IPO, which includes issue of fresh shares representing 22.03% of the company’s equity capital post the offering, has been fixed at Rs 56-59 apiece.

• Morgan Stanley on Titan: Has an 'overweight' stance, target price at Rs 2,902. Initial Q2 trends were strong with 18% YoY growth in Jewellery division. Watches sales grew 20% YoY, eye wear grew 7% YoY. Improving studded mix, positive consumer sentiment and a good festive season outlook.

• Morgan Stanley on Bharti Airtel: Has an 'overweight' stance, target price at Rs 825. Airtel officially announces launch of 5G Plus in select cities. Co also said 5G Plus service will be available to its users on existing data plans until rollout is more widespread. Believe 5G services for consumers could be priced competitively & industry might look to increase 4G base tariff in order to improve overall ARPU & monetization.

• Jefferies on Hero MotoCorp: Raised to 'buy', target price at Rs 3,000.

• Jefferies on Macrotech Developers: Has a 'buy' rating, target price at Rs 1,420. Raises FY23 pre-sales estimate by 5% to Rs 12,000 crore following strong Q2 performance. Despite rising interest rates, affordability is still better than average and underlying demand remains strong. Progress on new project signings and return of capital from U.K. investments is ahead of schedule. Net-debt reduction pace should rise in the second half as collections see seasonal surge.

• Emkay on SBI Cards: Delivery percentage at 54% vs 47% monthly average with 1.1x traded volume. Closing price on Thursday (Rs 886) is trading just above its 200-DEMA of Rs 881. Breakdown below these levels with significant volumes can give a short trade target of Rs 800 levels. RSI is near 40 which suggests weakness in stock prices.

• U.S. Dollar Index at 112.22

• U.S. 10-year bond yield at 3.82% on Thursday

• Brent crude up 0.12% to $94.53 per barrel

• Nymex crude up 0.19% to $88.62 per barrel

• SGX Nifty down 0.3% to 17,263.5 as of 6:16 a.m.

• Bitcoin down 0.15% to $20,021.1

• Dabur: The company said its domestic business had a "steady performance" and is expected to report "consolidated revenue growth in mid-single digit" for the second quarter ended September 2022.

• Titan Co.: The company said it witnessed healthy double-digit growth across most businesses with overall sales growing 18% annually during the quarter ended September 2022. The outlook for the festive season continues to be optimistic and is visible in positive consumer sentiment across categories, it added.

• Equitas Small Finance Bank: The lender recorded 20% growth on-year in total deposits during the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2022. The CASA deposits grew 28% on-year, with CASA ratio at 48.13%, compared to 45.31% a year ago.

• Hindalco/Hindustan Copper/Vedanta: London Metal Exchange began a formal discussion on a potential ban on new Russian metal.

• Nykaa: The company entered into a strategic alliance with Middle East-based Apparel Group to recreate omni-channel beauty retail platform in the GCC region.

• Hero MotoCorp: To launch Vida today, its first electric scooter.

• Samvardhana Motherson: The company opened a new facility at Tanger Med Industrial Platform, replacing an existing one in Morocco. This new facility is a part of Motherson’s Modules and Polymer Products division and will produce interior modules and components like instrument panels and door panels for passenger vehicles and light commercial vehicles.

• SBI Cards and Payment Services: The company has appointed Rashmi Mohanty as Chief Financial Officer, with effect from Oct. 21, 2022.

• Disa India: Norican Group, parent group company of Disa India, has acquired Simpson Technologies, which is engaged in the business of sand mixing, cooling, handling, reclamation, and analysis.

• Yes Bank: The bank has reappointed Prashant Kumar as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer for a period of three years, effective from Oct. 06, 2022.

• HCL Tech: The company has expanded its strategic partnership with Google Cloud with new capabilities and service offerings to expedite enterprise migration to Google Cloud.

• NTPC: NTPC and GE Gas Power signed MoU for demonstrating hydrogen co-firing in gas turbines to further decarbonise power generation.

• Karur Vysya Bank: The bank revised MCLR across tenors by 20 basis points, with effect from Oct. 7, 2022.

• JK Tyre & Industries: Care Ratings upgraded long-term bank facilities of JK Tornel Sociedad Anonima De Capital Variable, Mexico, a subsidiary of the company, to ‘CARE A-; Stable’ from ‘CARE BBB+; Stable’. The agency downgraded long-term bank facilities of Cavendish Industries, a subsidiary of the company, to ‘CARE A-; Negative’ from ‘CARE A-; Negative’, and for long-term/short-term bank facilities to ‘CARE A-; Negative/CARE A2+’ from ‘CARE A-; Stable/CARE A2+’.

• Quess Corp: The board approved disinvestment of 53% of equity investment held by the company in its non-material subsidiary Simpliance Technologies Pvt. Ltd. to Aparajitha Corporate Services. The deal is valued at an enterprise value of Rs 120 core.

• Biocon: European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare issued a list of deficiencies related to the company’s API manufacturing site in Bangalore after a GMP inspection from Sept. 12-14. No deficiencies were marked critical, while one was categorized as major.

• Lupin: Dr Shahin Fesharaki appointed as as Global Chief Scientific Officer of the company.

• Jet Airways: The airline denied reports of entering into any leasing agreement Avolon for Airbus A320 aircraft.

• Reliance Industries: Reliance Industries-backed Asteria Aerospace announced that it has received India's first micro category drone type certification for its indigenously designed A200 drone from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, PTI reported.

Stocks in Asia fell in early trading following declines in the U.S. as investors awaited a pivotal monthly payrolls report

Equities dropped in Australia, Japan and South Korea, where Samsung Electronics Co. slid after the Korean chipmaker reported a decline in profit for the first time since late 2019. Stocks in the U.S. fell for a second day, with the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 both ending near session lows.

At 6:25 a.m., the Singapore-traded SGX Nifty -- an early barometer of India's benchmark Nifty 50 -- fell 0.3% to 17,263.50.

The latest economic data in the U.S. on Thursday did little to bolster sentiment. While weekly initial jobless claims rose by more than forecast last week, they remained at a historically low level.

Oil topped $88 a barrel in New York and Brent traded up near $95, extending gains a day after the OPEC+ alliance announced its biggest production cut since 2020. Elsewhere, Bitcoin slipped below $20,000.