Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on April 26, 2023

Wall Street's major averages suffered their deepest declines so far this month as a downbeat UPS forecast exacerbated investor concerns about a slowing U.S. economy on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 344.57 points, or 1.02%, to 33,530.83; and the S&P 500 lost 65.41 points, or 1.58%, at 4,071.63, with both marking their biggest one-day percentage losses since March 22. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 238.05 points, or 1.98%, to 11,799.16 in its biggest one-day percentage decline since March 9.

The S&P/ASX 200 was lower, down at 0.35 percent. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.33 percent, and the Topix dropped 0.62 percent. South Korea’s Kospi bucked the wider downturn and rose 0.19 percent, while the Kosdaq was 0.44 percent up, after the country’s consumer sentiment index for April rose to 95.1, compared to 92 in March. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index looks set to extend its losses from Tuesday, with futures tied to the index standing at 19,391 compared to its last close of 19.617.88.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 26 points or 0.15 percent lower at 17,760, indicating a weak opening for the Indian markets. 

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty closed higher for the second straight session on Tuesday, helped by buying in power and utility stocks amid positive quarterly numbers announced by heavyweight companies. However, foreign fund outflows and a muted trend in global equities capped the gains, traders said. In a highly volatile trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 74.61 points or 0.12 percent to settle at 60,130.71. During the day, it hit a high of 60,268.67 and a low of 60,202.77. The broader NSE Nifty gained 25.85 points or 0.15 percent to end at 17,769.25.

Oil dropped 2 percent on Tuesday after two sessions of gains as deepening concerns of an economic slowdown and a stronger dollar outweighed hopes of higher Chinese demand and lower U.S. crude stocks. Brent crude fell by $1.96, or 2.4 percent, to settle at $80.77 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped $1.69, or 2.2 percent, to settle at $77.07. On Monday, both contracts rose by more than 1 percent.

Bajaj Finance, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Life, SBI Life, L&T Tech and others will announce their March quarter results today.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth ₹407.35 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) bought shares worth ₹563.61 crore on April 25, according to provisional data from National Stock Exchange.

Gold prices rose on Tuesday as steeply lower Treasury yields countered pressure from a stronger dollar, while investors awaited a slew of U.S. economic data due later this week that could sway the Federal Reserve’s interest rate-hike stance. Spot gold was up 0.35 percent to $1,996.12 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures settled 0.34 percent higher at $2,006.60.

The rupee traded in a narrow range and settled on a flat note at 81.92 (provisional) against the US dollar amid rising crude oil prices and foreign fund outflows.