Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on August 18, 2022

US stocks closed lower on Wednesday, with indexes volatile after minutes from the Federal Reserve's meeting in July suggested policymakers may be less aggressive than previously thought when they raise interest rates in September. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 171.69 points, or 0.5%, to 33,980.32, the S&P 500 lost 31.16 points, or 0.72%, to 4,274.04 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 164.43 points, or 1.25%, to 12,938.12.

Asian markets were trading mixed on Thursday with the Nikkei down a percent while the Kospi shedding 0.5 percent in the morning session. On the other hand, Hang Seng added half a percent.

The Indian market continued enjoying the bull run as the key equity indices the Sensex and the Nifty ended with healthy gains on August 17 amid mixed global cues. The 30-share pack eventually closed 418 points, or 0.70% higher at 60,260.13. Nifty closed the day at 17,944.25, up 119 points or 0.67%.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 30 points or 0.2 percent lower at 17,937, indicating a weak opening for the Indian markets.

Oil prices eased on Thursday, reversing course from the previous session, as rising output from Russia and worries about a potential global recession weighed on futures. Brent crude futures fell 33 cents, or 0.4%, to $93.32 a barrel. U.S. crude futures fell 40 cents, or 0.5%, to $87.71 a barrel. Prices rose more than 1% during the previous session, although Brent touched its lowest level since February. 

While not explicitly hinting at a particular pace of coming rate increases, beginning with the September 20-21 meeting, the minutes released on Wednesday showed US central bank policymakers committed to raising rates as high as necessary to tame inflation - even as they began to acknowledge more explicitly the risk they might go too far and curb economic activity too much.

The rupee ended lower in the previous session on August 17 but the loss was capped by gains in domestic equities and a fall in crude oil prices. The domestic currency fell 6 paise to close at 79.45 per dollar.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net bought shares worth ₹2,347.22 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net sold shares worth ₹510.23 crore on August 17, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

Gold prices rose on August 18, as the dollar and Treasury yields pulled back slightly after US Federal Reserve minutes hinted policymakers may be less aggressive on future rate hikes.