Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on August 23, 2023

The Dow and S&P 500 ended slightly lower on Tuesday as investors stayed worried the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer and as banks shares eased. The S&P 500 and Dow slid around 0.3 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. But the Nasdaq Composite eked out a 0.06 percent advance. The tech-heavy index was able to post a second day of gains despite selling pressure as investors readied for earnings from Nvidia, which was the biggest laggard on the index in Tuesday’s session.

Asian shares held tight ranges on Wednesday as investors awaited results from tech darling Nvidia to see if the sector's lofty valuations can withstand a jump in bond yields, while still gloomy factory readings from Japan left sentiment fragile. S&P 500 futures climbed 0.3% while Nasdaq futures rose 0.4%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan were up 0.1%, hovering not far away from its nine-month trough hit just two sessions ago. Japan's Nikkei rose a meagre 0.2%. Chinese shares gave up some gains, with blue-chips off 0.7% following a rebound of 0.8% the previous day, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index easing 0.1% after jumping 1%.

At 8:20 am, the GIFT Nifty was trading 49 points or 0.2 percent higher at 19,359, indicating a positive opening for the Indian markets. 

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended almost flat on Tuesday as investors booked profits amid concerns over potential rate hikes in the US and persistent foreign fund outflows. The BSE gauge eked out a marginal gain of 3.94 points or 0.01 percent to settle at 65,220.03. During the day, it climbed 146.82 points or 0.22 percent to 65,362.91. The NSE Nifty inched up 2.85 points or 0.01 percent to settle at 19,396.45.

Oil prices eased in early trade on Wednesday, weighed down by fears U.S. interest rates could stay higher for longer and economic growth could slow further in top crude importer China and hurt fuel demand. Brent crude dipped 17 cents, or 0.2%, to $83.86 a barrel by 0031 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $79.56 a barrel, down 8 cents, or 0.1%.

The Indian economy may have grown by 8.3 percent in April-June, according to Soumya Kanti Ghosh, State Bank of India's group chief economic advisor, who also sees growth for the full-year ending March 2024 exceeding the 6.5 percent forecast by the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). At 8.3 percent, SBI's growth forecast for April-June will be the highest in four quarters. The economy had expanded by 13.1 percent in April-June 2022 due to a favourable base effect. This effect is still in play, but gradually fading away. GDP data for April-June will be released at 5:30 pm on August 31.

The rupee recovered from its all-time low levels and settled for the day higher by 19 paise at 82.94 against the US dollar on Tuesday.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth ₹495.17 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased ₹533.75 crore worth of stocks on August 22, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.

Gold prices gave up early gains to hover near a five-month low on Tuesday, as a stronger dollar and higher bond yields dented bullion’s appeal as focus shifts to the Jackson Hole Symposium for more cues on the interest rate outlook. Spot gold was down 0.2 percent at $1,890.39 an ounce after rising as much as 0.6 percent earlier in the session. US gold futures gained 0.4 percent to $1,930.90.