Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on February 22, 2023

Wall Street posted its worst performance of the year so far on Tuesday, with the main benchmarks ending down as investors interpreted a rebound in US business activity in February to indicate that interest rates need to stay higher for longer to control inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 697.1 points, or 2.06 percent, to 33,129.59, the S&P 500 lost 81.75 points, or 2 percent, to 3,997.34 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 294.97 points, or 2.5 percent, to 11,492.30.

Asia-Pacific markets were lower on Wednesday ahead of key economic data across the region. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.7 percent as investors further digested the nation’s producer price index which rose 1.6 percent on an annualized basis. The Topix fell 0.6 percent. In South Korea, the Kospi fell 1 percent. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.74 percent lower as Australia awaits the release of its wage price index for the fourth quarter of 2022.

Domestic equity benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty ended lower after witnessing bouts of volatility on February 21 as investors awaited key data prints from some of the major economies in the world. Sensex closed 19 points, or 0.03 percent, lower at 60,672.72. Nifty50 closed at 17,826.70, down 18 points, or 0.10 percent. Mid and smallcaps underperformed the largecaps; the BSE Midcap index fell 0.21 percent while the Smallcap index suffer a loss of 0.31 percent.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 80 points or 0.45 percent lower at 17,765, indicating a negative opening for the Indian markets. 

Brent crude oil slipped more than 1 percent in a volatile session on Tuesday as persistent concerns about global economic growth outweighed supply curbs and prompted investors to take profits on the previous day's gains. The focus in the wider financial market is firmly on the release on Wednesday of the minutes of the US Federal Reserve's latest meeting, after recent data raised the risk of interest rates remaining higher for longer. Global benchmark Brent crude settled $1.02, or 1.2 percent, lower at $83.05 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) for March, which expired on Tuesday, fell 18 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $76.16 a barrel.

US business activity unexpectedly rebounded in February, reaching its highest level in eight months, according to a survey on Tuesday, which also showed inflation subsiding. S&P Global said its flash US Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, increased to 50.2 this month from a final reading of 46.8 in January.That ended seven straight months of the index being below the 50 mark, which indicates contraction in the private sector. The services sector accounted for the rise in business activity, while manufacturing remained weak. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the flash Composite PMI Output Index at 47.5.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth ₹525.80 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors (DII) sold shares worth ₹235.23 crore on February 21, NSE's provisional data showed.

The rupee slipped 6 paise to end at 82.80 in the previous session as the greenback hovered around its six-week high level. Weakness in the equity market also weighed on sentiment.

Gold prices inched up on Wednesday, as investors awaited the minutes of the US Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting that could offer clues on further interest rate hikes. The US central bank had raised rates by 25 basis points (bps) at its Jan. 31-Feb. 1 meeting, reported Reuters.