Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on February 15, 2023

Wall Street stocks ended mixed on Tuesday after US consumer price data for January offered little to change expectations about the Federal Reserve's path forward on interest rate hikes. The S&P 500 declined 0.03 percent to end at 4,136.17 points. The Nasdaq gained 0.57 percent at 11,960.15 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.46 percent to 34,089.40 points.

Asia Pacific markets traded mixed on Wednesday after the release of US inflation data that came in hotter-than-expected. The Nikkei 225 opened the day 0.36 percent higher, while the Topix gained 0.28 percent in its first hour of trading. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was trading 0.62 percent lower, as investors digested the US inflation data.

Equity benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty ended higher on February 14, propelled by gains in shares of select heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and ITC. Sensex closed at 61,032.26 with a gain of 600 points or 0.99 percent. The Nifty50 closed the day at 17,929.85, up 159 points, or 0.89 percent.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 68 points or 0.38 percent lower at 17,859, indicating a weak opening for the Indian markets. 

Oil prices settled 1 percent lower on Tuesday as traders worried about mounting supplies, and prices extended losses in post-settlement trading after sources said data from the American Petroleum Institute showed a large build in US crude oil and distillate inventories. Sources said the industry group reported a crude oil build of 10.5 million barrels in the week ended February 10. Brent futures for April delivery fell $1.03, or 1.2 percent, to $85.58 a barrel by 1:05 pm EST (1805 GMT). US West Texas Intermediate crude futures for March fell by $1.08, or 1.4 percent, to $79.06 a barrel.

Inflation in the US continued to surge in January, with the latest data showing higher-than-expected increases both year-on-year and month-on-month. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 6.4 percent from January 2022, slightly higher than the estimated rate of 6.3 percent. On a month-on-month basis, the CPI increased by 0.5 percent, surpassing the projected rate of 0.4 percent. The Core Inflation Rate also rose by 0.4 percent, exceeding the expected 0.3 percent increase.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth ₹1,305.30 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased shares worth ₹204.79 crore on February 14, NSE's provisional data showed.

The rupee slipped 4 paise to end at 82.76 per dollar in the previous session. Gains in equity benchmarks and an easing dollar capped the losses for the rupee.

Gold prices edged up on Wednesday as the dollar eased, while US inflation data released on Tuesday raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will persist with monetary policy tightening.