Before Market Opens: From Wall Street gains to FII buying data; 9 things to know at 9 am on August 25, 2022

Wall Street ended higher on Wednesday, lifted by gains in energy stocks and Intuit while investors awaited the US Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole conference this week. Boosting the tech-heavy Nasdaq, Intuit Inc rallied almost 4 percent after the accounting software maker forecast upbeat fiscal 2023 revenue. The S&P 500 climbed 0.29% to end the session at 4,140.77 points. The Nasdaq gained 0.41% to 12,431.53 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.18% to 32,969.23 points.

Markets in the Asia-Pacific traded higher ahead of the Jackson Hole symposium kicking off stateside. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was 0.34% higher while the Topix was up 0.22%. In South Korea, the Kospi rose 0.56% and the Kosdaq was up 0.49%. Australia’s S&P/ASX was also up by 0.3%.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 77 points or 0.4 percent higher at 17,692, indicating a strong opening for the Indian markets.

Equity benchmarks eked out marginal gains to settle in the positive zone after swinging between gains and losses during the session on Wednesday amid weakness in global bourses. In a trade marked with highs and lows, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 54.13 points or 0.09 per cent to settle at 59,085.43. During the day, it hit a high of 59,170.87 and a low of 58,760.09. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty went up by 27.45 points or 0.16 per cent to 17,604.95.

Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Wednesday after Saudi Arabia suggested the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries could consider cutting output, though bearish economic signals from central bankers and falling equities weighed. US crude futures rose 34 cents to $95.23 a barrel by 0016 GMT, while Brent crude futures rose 51 cents or $101.73 a barrel.

The dollar rose and Treasury yields jumped on Wednesday ahead of a speech in two days by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that may affirm the US central bank's aggressive policy to tame inflation or signal a pivot to subdued interest rate hikes. Yields on both German and US benchmark 10-year notes rose to eight-week highs. British short-dated government bond yields hit 14-year highs. Soaring energy prices in Europe raised fears of more inflation in Germany and Britain. The yield on 10-year US Treasuries rose further above 3 percent, hitting 3.126 percent, suggesting for some the rebound in stocks may be short-lived. The German 10-year bund rose to 1.388 percent, and two-year UK gilts hit 2.955 percent.

Spot gold gained 0.43 percent to $1,769.00 per ounce as of 7:20 am on Thursday.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth ₹23.19 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net sold shares worth ₹322.34 crore on August 24, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

The rupee consolidated in a narrow range and depreciated 3 paise to close at 79.86 against the US dollar on Wednesday.