Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on August 31, 2023

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed higher on Wednesday as fresh economic data signaled a cooling U.S. economy, reinforcing expectations the Federal Reserve will pause rate hikes in September. The S&P 500 ending the day 0.38% higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 37.57 points, or 0.11%. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.54%. It was the fourth winning day in a row for the three major averages.

Asian shares were set for the worst month since February, with sentiment hurt by still-gloomy China factory activity, while investors were also cautious ahead of a barrage of U.S. data that could add to bets that interest rates have peaked. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.1% but was still headed for a monthly loss of 5.9%, the largest since February. Japan's Nikkei gained 0.5%, bringing its monthly loss to 2%. Chinese blue-chips were flat but a 2.5% rebound in property stocks boosted Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, which rose 0.7%. 

At 8:20 am, the GIFT Nifty was trading 9 points or 0.05 percent higher at 19,487, indicating a muted opening for the Indian markets. 

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty closed on a flat note on Wednesday amid weak global cues. Shedding most of the gains made during the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 0.02 percent or 11.43 points higher at 65,087.25 points. Similar trends were witnessed on the NSE too where the broader 50-share Nifty inched up 0.02 percent or 4.80 points to settle at 19,347.45 points.

Global oil prices were up in early trade on Thursday backed by tighter U.S. supply, with a focus on China factory activity due later in the day amid recent weak economic expansion data in the world's second-biggest economy. Brent crude futures contract for October and which expires on Thursday was up 14 cents, or 0.16%, at $86 per barrel and the more active November contract was up 10 cents, or 0.12%, at $85.34 at 0039 GMT.

Gift Nifty, which stands as a new benchmark to the growth story of the Indian equity market, reached an all-time-high single-day trading activity of 3,36,535 contracts with a turnover of $12.98 billion (around ₹1,07,267 crore) on August 29. Open interest stood at 3,08,254 contracts, representing a substantial $11.93 billion (equivalent to ₹98,589 crore) in valuation. The trajectory of trading turnover on the NSE IX has shown exponential growth since the start of full-scale operation commencement in GIFT Nifty on July 3. Gift Nifty has since been witness to a cumulative volume exceeding 2.94 million contracts, with an aggregate turnover of $113.73 billion.

The rupee recovered 6 paise to settle at 82.74 against the US currency on Wednesday following weakness in the US dollar in global markets.

Gold hit its highest in nearly a month on Wednesday, as a fresh batch of weak U.S. economic readings reinforced the view that the Federal Reserve may have to hit pause on its interest rate hikes. Spot gold rose 0.5% to $1,945.81 per ounce, just below its highest since Aug. 2. U.S. gold futures also rose 0.5% to $1,974.00.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth ₹494.68 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased ₹1,323.24 crore worth of stocks on August 30, provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed.