Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on April 28, 2023

The tech-heavy Nasdaq led a Wall Street rally on Thursday as a strong quarterly report from Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc overshadowed concerns over slowing U.S. economic growth. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 524.29 points, or 1.57 percent, to close at 33,826.16 in previous close. The Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.43 percent to finish at 12,142.24, while the S&P 500 climbed 1.96 percent to end at 4,135.35. It was the best day since January for the Dow and S&P 500 and March for the Nasdaq.

Asian stocks rallied on Friday as strong corporate earnings helped lift sentiment even as worries over economic weakness lingered, while investors were also waiting on a policy decision from the Bank of Japan.MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.94% higher but remained on course to end the month 1.4% lower. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.51% while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.33%. China shares eased, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was 0.5% higher. Geopolitical tensions along with worries over the global economic outlook have crimped investor sentiment in recent weeks.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 81 points or 0.45 percent higher at 18,074, indicating a strong opening for the Indian markets. 

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended in the green on Thursday, climbing for the fourth straight day, amid fresh foreign fund inflows and intense buying in IT and telecom stocks. Buying in index majors Infosys and Reliance Industries added to the optimism in the equity market. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 348.80 points or 0.58 percent to settle at 60,649.38. During the day, it jumped 397.73 points or 0.65 percent to 60,698.31. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 101.45 points or 0.57 percent to end at 17,915.05.

Oil prices steadied on Thursday after the previous day’s price drop on worries about a possible recession erased the supportive impact of a surprise cut to OPEC production targets this month. Brent crude rose 59 cents to $78.28 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 52 cents to $74.82.

Wipro on April 27 reported a 0.4 percent YoY decline in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended March 2023 (Q4FY23) at ₹3075 crore, as against ₹3,087 crore a year ago. The company had reported a profit of ₹3,053 crore in the last quarter.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth ₹1,652.95 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased shares worth ₹97.07 crore on April 27, according to provisional data from National Stock Exchange.

Gold reversed course and fell on Thursday, as the dollar gained after weaker U.S. economic readings failed to upend expectations of another interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve next week amid stubborn inflation. Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,987.47 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were up less than 0.1 percent to $1,996.8.

The rupee pared all its initial gains to settle lower by 5 paise at 81.79 against the US currency on Thursday amid a strengthening greenback overseas and foreign capital outflows.