Hopes for progress toward peace with Iran eased supply concerns, pushing Brent down 0.5% to $79.08 a barrel and WTI down 0.7% to $74.69. Spot gold rose 1% to $4,285.84 an ounce, a seven-week high, helped by a weaker dollar and lower U.S. Treasury yields. U.S. gold futures added 0.9%. Silver was up 0.2%, while platinum and palladium also traded higher.

Temasek-backed dairy maker Milky Mist has cut its India IPO to 15.53 billion rupees from 20.35 billion rupees and set a price band of 133–140 rupees per share, targeting a valuation of about 107.78 billion rupees. Temasek unit Jongsong Investments bought a roughly 5.2% stake in an April pre-IPO placement at 139.76 rupees per share. The offer includes 14.28 billion rupees of new shares and 1.25 billion rupees of shares sold by founders, with proceeds earmarked for debt repayment and facility upgrades.

Amprius Technologies issued 2026 guidance calling for revenue of at least $140M and a gross margin of at least 28%. The company said the outlook is primarily driven by expanding demand for its SiCore batteries in defense drones. The guidance reflects Amprius’s confidence in continued business growth.

Shares of major Hong Kong-listed insurers and banks fell after a report said mainland Chinese tax officials began levying a 20% tax on income from Hong Kong insurance products. The reported tax applies to items such as dividend distributions and interest on prepaid premiums in cities including Beijing and Hangzhou, according to Caixin. In early trading at 9.45am, Prudential fell 5.9% and AIA Group slid 6.6%, while HSBC dropped 4.1% and Standard Chartered declined 3.4%.

AMP reported an 8.2% year-on-year rise in assets under management to $167.6 billion and said Platforms net cash flows climbed 33% to $3.1 billion in H1 2026. The company also posted a 33% increase in underlying net profit after tax to $174 million and declared an interim dividend of 3 cents per share, 20% franked, up 50% from last year. The stock rose as much as 5.5% in Thursday morning trade and is up 98.3% from its 12 March closing low.

South32 shares have surged to a four-year high, rising 26% over the past three weeks after the miner agreed to sell its aluminium value chain to Alcoa in a deal worth up to US$5.6 billion. The stock is up 39% year-to-date and 66% over the past 12 months, while analysts’ average target price is broadly in line with the current level. Brokers tracked by Market Index mostly rate the shares a buy, though the consensus target sits around $4.94.

Cummins India reported June-quarter revenue up 18% year on year to ₹3,425 crore, while EBITDA margin fell to 17.97%, its lowest level in 10 quarters. The margin was down 350 basis points from a year earlier as costs rose 24% and the pass-through lagged, weighing on profitability. EBITDA came in below market expectations, according to a CNBCTV18 poll.

News Corp reported fourth-quarter earnings with revenue beating market expectations, driven by growth in its digital real estate business, book publishing and Dow Jones subscription operations. The company is accelerating a shift from traditional print media to a digital-first model. It has also signed AI content licensing agreements with multiple technology companies to tap opportunities tied to the development of artificial intelligence.