Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on April 5, 2022

Wall Street's main indexes rose on Monday, boosted by megacap tech and growth stocks and a surge in Twitter after Elon Musk revealed his stake in the company, amid cautionary signals in the bond market and talk of more sanctions against Russia over Ukraine. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 103.61 points, or 0.3 percent, to 34,921.88, the S&P 500 gained 36.78 points, or 0.81 percent, at 4,582.64 and the Nasdaq Composite added 271.05 points, or 1.9 percent, at 14,532.55.

Asian Markets were trading mixed in the morning session on Tuesday with Straits Times gained 0.6 percent, while Nikkei and Kospi down marginally.

Strong gains led by banking and financial heavyweights lifted equity benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty more than 2 percent higher each on April 4 as investor sentiment was boosted by the HDFC-HDFC Bank merger announcement. The 30-share pack, however, cooled off slightly and closed 1335 points, or 2.25 percent, up at 60,611.74. Nifty ended the day at 18,053.40, up 383 points, or 2.17 percent. With this, the market extended the gains into the second consecutive session.

Oil futures rose in early trading on Tuesday as the potential for more sanctions following alleged war crimes by Russian troops in Ukraine added to concerns about supply disruptions, while Iran nuclear talks stalled. Brent crude futures were up $1.58, or 1.5 percent, to $109.11 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate futures were up $1.61, or 1.6 percent, to $104.89 a barrel at 0028 GMT.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 103 points or 0.57 percent higher at 18,195, indicating a gap-up opening for the Indian markets.

The rupee closed 24 paise higher at 75.55 against the dollar on April 4. Strong gains in equity market and capped gains in crude oil prices helped rupee clock healthy gains.

Gold prices recovered on April 4 amid recession fears. However, the gains were capped by strength in the dollar and rise in the global equity market. Gold June futures contract settled at $1934 per troy ounce with a gain of 0.53 percent.

Net purchases of Indian shares by foreign institutional investors (FII) stood at ₹1,152.2 crore on Monday, and by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) at ₹1,675 crore, according to exchange data.

India’s trade deficit rose 87.5 percent to $192.41 billion in 2021-22 as against $ 102.63 billion in the previous year, the government data showed on Monday. While total exports during last fiscal year increased to a record high of $417.81 billion, imports too soared to $610.22 billion, leaving a trade gap of $192.41 billion.