Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on December 28, 2022

Wall Street ended lower at the beginning of a holiday-shortened week on Tuesday, as rising US Treasury yields pressured interest rate-sensitive megacap shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 37.63 points, or 0.11 percent, to 33,241.56, the S&P 500 lost 15.57 points, or 0.40 percent, to 3,829.25 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 144.64 points, or 1.38 percent, to 10,353.23.

Asian markets are trading lower in early trade on Wednesday with Kospi slipped over 2 percent, while Nikkei down nearly 1 percent. Straits Times is also trading in the red.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 83 points or 0.46 percent lower at 18,065, indicating a negative opening for the Indian markets. 

Domestic equity benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty ended in positive territory, extending their gains into the second consecutive session, on December 27. Positive global cues supported domestic sentiment after China further eased Covid curbs. Sensex closed 361 points, or 0.60 percent, higher at 60,927.43 while the Nifty50 settled at 18,132.30, up 118 points, or 0.65 percent.

Oil prices were steady after hitting a three-week high on Tuesday as restarts at some US energy plants shut by winter storms offset gains stemming from hopes of a demand recovery as China eases its Covid-19 restrictions. Brent crude was up 41 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $84.33 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate crude settled 3 cents lower at $79.53 per barrel.

India's banking sector remained resilient in 2021-22 and lenders may have to raise deposit rates more to meet a surge in credit demand, the central bank said in a report on Tuesday. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised rates aggressively this year to tame inflation. While banks have swiftly transmitted the hikes to their lending rates, deposit rates have been laggards for most. During 2021-22, as credit growth picked up and deposit growth moderated, the incremental credit-deposit (C-D) ratio reached a four-year high, the RBI said in its report on Trends and Progress of Banking released on Tuesday.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth ₹867.65 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased shares worth ₹621.81 crore on December 27, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

Gold prices eased on Wednesday pressured by an uptick in the US dollar, having risen 2 percent in the previous session following China's decision to further ease Covid-19 restrictions, reported Reuters. 

The rupee fell 20 paise to 82.85 per dollar in the previous session after the greenback rose against its global peers. The dollar index edged up slightly after China said it would scrap its Covid-19 quarantine rule for inbound travelers.