Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on August 17, 2022

The Dow and S&P 500 rose on Tuesday as stronger-than-expected results and outlooks from Walmart and Home Depot bolstered views on the health of consumers, while technology shares declined and weighed on the Nasdaq. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 239.57 points, or 0.71 percent, to 34,152.01, the S&P 500 gained 8.06 points, or 0.19 percent, to 4,305.2 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 25.50 points, or 0.19 percent, to 13,102.55.

Japan stocks surged following better-than-expected export figures, ahead of other economic data from Australia, Singapore and New Zealand. Japan’s Nikkei 225 increased 0.76 percent, while the Topix index added 0.83 percent after the country reported better-than-expected exports growth for July compared to a year ago. Elsewhere, the Kospi is also up 0.33 percent, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia rose 0.03 percent.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 40 points or 0.22 percent higher at 17,896, indicating a strong opening for the Indian markets.

The domestic market continued enjoying its bull run as key indices the Sensex and the Nifty clocked decent gains on August 16 after macroeconomic data showed India's retail inflation eased in July, boosting hopes that the Reserve Bank of India may slow down on rate hikes. It was the sixth consecutive session of gains for the Nifty50 while the Sensex settled higher for the third consecutive session. Sensex closed 379 points, or 0.64%, higher at 59,842.21 while the Nifty50 settled at 17,825.25, up 127 points, or 0.72%.

Oil prices fell over 1 percent on Tuesday in volatile trading as economic data spurred concerns about a potential global recession, while the market awaited clarity on talks to revive a deal that could allow more Iranian oil exports. Brent crude futures ended the day 2.9 percent lower at $92.34 per barrel, after hitting a session high of $95.95. West Texas Intermediate crude ended the day 3.2 percent lower at $86.53 per barrel.

Production at US factories increased more than expected in July as output rose at motor vehicle plants and elsewhere, pointing to underlying strength in manufacturing despite ebbing business confidence. Manufacturing output rebounded 0.7 percent last month after declining 0.4 percent in June, the Federal Reserve said on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast factory production would rise 0.2 percent. Output increased 3.2 percent compared to July 2021.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net bought shares worth ₹1,376.84 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net sold shares worth ₹136.24 crore on August 16, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

The rupee rose 14 paise to close at 79.39 per dollar in the previous session amid healthy gains in the equity market.

Gold prices were flat in the international markets on August 17, as investors awaited the release of the minutes of the US Federal Reserve's last policy meeting later in the day that could offer clues on further interest rate hikes, reported news agency Reuters.