Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on April 6, 2023

US stocks continued to trade mixed after snapping a four-day winning streak in the last trading session as investors look towards OPEC+ production cuts and the inflation impact of the same with uncertainty still looming for the global economy. During the regular session on Wednesday, the Dow added nearly 80 points, to close at 33,482. The S&P 500 fell by 0.25 percent, to close at 4090 also snapping a recent string of four consecutive winning sessions and the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 1.07 percent to close at 11,996.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 led losses in the region as it slid 1.08 percent and the Topix lost 0.91 percent. Elsewhere, the South Korean Kospi fell 0.68 percent, while the Kosdaq saw a smaller loss of 0.64 percent. The Australian S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 0.58 percent down, while the Hang Seng Tech index was 1.5 percent lower.  Mainland Chinese markets were also lower, as the Shanghai Composite shed 0.37 percent and the Shenzhen Component was down 0.45 percent.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 32 points or 0.2 percent lower at 17,592, indicating a negative opening for the Indian markets.

Frontline indices the Sensex and the Nifty ended with solid gains, extending their winning streak into the fourth consecutive session, on April 5 despite weak global cues. Financial, IT and FMCG heavyweights such as HDFC twins, ITC, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever and TCS ended as the top contributors to the gains in Sensex. Sensex closed 583 points, or 0.99 percent, higher at 59,689.31, while the Nifty ended at 17,557.05, up 159 points, or 0.91 percent.

The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy committee (MPC) is set to announce the first bi-monthly policy for the new financial year 2023-24 (FY24) on Thursday, April 6 concluding a 3-day meet. Reserve Bank governor Shaktikanta Das-headed MPC met on April 3, 5, and 6 for this review. In its continued effort to rein in persistently elevated inflation, most experts expect the RBI is expected to raise key interest rates yet again by 25 bps on April 6, 2023. This would take the repo rate to 6.75 percent which would be the highest rate in 7 years, since March 2016.

Oil prices eased in early Asian trade on Thursday after weak U.S. job openings data signalled cooling economic conditions which may hit demand. West Texas Intermediate U.S. crude was down 14 cents to $80.47 a barrel at 2241 GMT. On Wednesday, Brent crude futures settled up 5 cents, or 0.1%, at $84.99 a barrel. Prices jumped by more than 6% on Monday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, collectively known as OPEC+, pledged voluntary production cuts.

Gold prices fell on Thursday as the dollar firmed ahead of a much-awaited US non-farm payrolls report, as investors sought clarity on whether the Federal Reserve might take a breather on its monetary tightening path, reported Reuters.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth ₹806.82 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) sold shares worth ₹947.21 crore on April 5, National Stock Exchange's provisional data showed.

The rupee ended 33 paise higher at 82 per dollar in the previous session amid gains in the equity market.