Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on August 4, 2022

Wall Street ended sharply higher on Wednesday, with strong profit forecasts from PayPal and CVS Health Corp lifting sentiment and helping elevate the Nasdaq to its highest level since early May. The S&P 500 climbed 1.56% to end the session at 4,155.12 points. The Nasdaq gained 2.59% to 12,668.16 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.29% to 32,812.50 points.

Asia-Pacific shares traded higher on Thursday following the rally on Wall Street. Mainland China markets gained as well. The Shanghai Composite added 0.39% and the Shenzhen Component climbed 0.44%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.57%, while the Topix index was flat. The Kospi in South Korea gained 0.55%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.29%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside of China was 0.68% higher.

Key equity indices the Sensex and the Nifty closed in the green for the sixth consecutive session on August 3. Sensex rose 214 points, or 0.37%, to end at 58,350.53. Nifty closed the day 43 points, or 0.25%, higher at 17,388.15.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 39 points or 0.22 percent higher at 17,478, indicating a positive opening for the Indian markets.

Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Thursday, bouncing off multi-month lows in the previous session caused by data signalling weak US fuel demand. Brent crude futures rose 53 cents, or 0.6%, at $97.31 a barrel by 0020 GMT while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 55 cents, also a 0.6% gain, to $91.21. Both benchmarks fell to their weakest levels since February in the previous session. US crude oil inventories rose unexpectedly last week as exports fell and refiners lowered runs, while gasoline stocks also posted a surprise build as demand slowed, the Energy Information Administration said.

The Reserve Bank of India's rate-setting panel on Wednesday began its three-day deliberations on the next bi-monthly monetary policy amid expectations of at least a 35-basis-point hike in the interest rate to check high retail inflation. It might be the third consecutive hike in the repo rate or short-term lending rate in the last three months. The Monetary Policy Committee is scheduled to announce its decision on August 5.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth ₹765.17 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net sold shares worth ₹518.42 crore on August 3, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

The rupee fell 45 paise to close at 79.16 per dollar in the previous session. The rupee fell after four days of gains because of the high trade deficit while caution ahead of the RBI MPC outcome also weighed on the domestic unit.

Gold prices traded in a tight range on Wednesday, pressured by a stronger dollar and Treasury yields as hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve officials pulled the metal further away from last session's one-month peak, reported news agency Reuters.