Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on April 20, 2023

The S&P 500 ended virtually unchanged on Wednesday, while the Dow dipped as investors digested a mixed bag of corporate earnings, including upbeat reports from medical technology companies, countered by weakness in Netflix shares. The Dow was weighed down by declines in Walt Disney Co and UnitedHealth Group Inc shares following results from rivals in their respective industries. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 79.62 points, or 0.23 percent, to 33,897.01; the S&P 500 lost 0.35 points, or 0.01 percent, at 4,154.52; and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.81 points, or 0.03 percent, at 12,157.23.

Asia-Pacific markets were largely lower on Thursday as investors on Wall Street digest more earnings reports from names like Netflix and Morgan Stanley. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.1 percent, but the Topix shed 0.22 percent as Japan’s trade deficit hit a record high of 21.7 trillion yen ($161.14 billion) for its full fiscal year ending March. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.11 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi slid 0.38 percent and the Kosdaq dipped 1.48 percent. Mainland Chinese markets were also all down, with the Shanghai Composite down 0.14 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.42 percent in early trade.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 49 points or 0.28 percent higher at 17,702, indicating a positive opening for the Indian markets.

Domestic equity benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty ended in the red for the third consecutive session on April 19 on losses in shared led by IT and banking heavyweights including Infosys, TCS, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech and SBI. Sensex closed 159 points, or 0.27 percent, lower at 59,567.80 while the Nifty closed with a loss of 41 points, or 0.23 percent, at 17,618.75.

Oil prices fell on Thursday as muted US economic data and expectations of interest rate hikes pushed up the U.S. dollar, prompting fear of a stronger dollar hurting global oil demand by making it more expensive.Brent futures for June delivery were down by 37 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $82.76 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) for May delivery lost 28 cents, or 0.35 percent, to trade at $78.88 at 0005 GMT.

China and India will lead the world through their contribution to the global gross domestic product expansion, followed by the US, according to a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) report. Based on the data collected from IMF's World Economic Outlook along with further calculations based on the same by Bloomberg, China's slice of the global gross domestic product expansion will be at 22.6 percent, India's will be 12.9 percent, and the US will contribute 11.3 percent.

Gold prices inched higher on Thursday as the dollar eased, while investors grappled with the likelihood of more interest rate hikes by top central banks to contain inflationary pressures, reported Reuters. Spot gold was down 0.45 percent at $1,995.91 per ounce. U.S. gold futures fell 0.55 percent to $2,008.50.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth ₹13.17 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) offloaded shares worth ₹110.42 crore on April 19, National Stock Exchange's provisional data showed.

The rupee depreciated 21 paise to close at 82.25 against the US currency on Wednesday, pressured by a strong greenback overseas and a negative trend in domestic equities.