Before Market Opens: From Pelosi in Taiwan to FIIs; 9 things to know at 9 am on August 3, 2022

Wall Street ended lower after a choppy session on Tuesday, with geopolitical tensions flaring after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. The Nasdaq declined 0.16 percent to 12,348.76 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 1.23 percent to 32,396.30 points. The S&P 500 declined 0.66 percent to end the session at 4,091.32 points.

Shares in the Asia-Pacific were mostly higher Wednesday as geopolitical tensions between the US and China intensified over US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. Mainland China markets led gains. The Shanghai Composite rose 0.93 percent, and the Shenzhen Component added 1.29 percent. On Tuesday, before Pelosi’s arrival, both the indices fell as much as 3 percent in the trading session. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 1.14 percent. Taiwan’s Taiex was 0.27 percent lower. The Kospi in South Korea gained 0.4 percent and the Kosdaq was 0.67 percent higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.49 percent and the Topix index was up 0.15 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia, however, fell 0.55 percent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of Japan increased 0.12 percent.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 40 points or 0.23 percent higher at 17,366, indicating a positive opening for the Indian markets.

Frontline indices the Sensex and the Nifty ended flat on August 2. Sensex ended at 58,136.36, just 21 points, or 0.04% up. Nifty closed with a nominal gain of 5 points or 0.03%. Mid and smallcaps, however, clocked decent gains as the BSE Midcap index rose 0.50% while the Smallcap index rose 0.34%.

Oil prices fell about 1 percent in early trade on Wednesday, reversing gains from the previous session ahead of a meeting OPEC+ producers on fears of a slowdown in global growth hitting fuel demand and a firmer dollar. Brent crude futures fell 94 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $99.60 a barrel at midnight in London, wiping out the previous session's gain. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 68 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $93.74 a barrel, after climbing 53 cents on Tuesday.

The US dollar remained elevated on Wednesday following its biggest surge in three weeks against major peers overnight, with Federal Reserve officials talking up the potential for further, aggressive interest rate hikes. The greenback continued its rise versus the safe-haven yen, extending its best gain for six weeks, as US Treasury yields also rebounded after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's arrival in Taiwan was met with a strong, but not off-the-scale response by China.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net bought shares worth ₹825.18 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net purchased shares worth ₹117.79 crore on August 2, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

The rupee jumped 31 paise higher at 78.72 per dollar in the previous session amid a fall in crude oil prices and the weakness of the dollar against its peers. The inflow of foreign funds also supported the domestic unit. As per NSE data, FPIs invested ₹825.18 crore in the Indian market on August 2.

Gold prices slipped in the international market while the dollar gained as the fresh hints from the US Fed officials that the central bank will continue hiking rates in the near term