Before Market Opens: From TCS to FII selling; 9 things to know at 9 am on January 10, 2023

The S&P 500 index erased early gains to close nearly flat on Monday as expectations that the Federal Reserve will become less aggressive with its interest rate hikes were offset by lingering worries about inflation. The Dow ended lower, and the Nasdaq Composite ended well off the day's highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 112.96 points, or 0.34 percent, to 33,517.65, the S&P 500 lost 2.99 points, or 0.08 percent, to 3,892.09 and the Nasdaq Composite added 66.36 points, or 0.63 percent, to 10,635.65.

Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed after the Nasdaq Composite extended gains for a second day on Wall Street. Technology stocks helped the index skirt losses Monday as traders added to bets that inflation may be easing. The Nikkei 225 rose 1.08 percent in its first hour of trade and the Topix gained 0.91 percent as consumer prices in Japan’s capital city rising 4 percent in December on an annualized basis, beating expectations for a 3.8 percent rise.

Domestic equity benchmarks clocked strong gains on January 9 in light of positive global cues amid hopes that the US Fed may decrease the pace of rate hikes. Sensex jumped 989 points in intraday trade and ended 847 points, or 1.41 percent, higher at 60,747.31. The Nifty closed the day at 18,101.20, up 242 points, or 1.35 percent.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 44 points or 0.24 percent lower at 18,129, indicating a negative opening for the Indian markets. 

Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday, giving up some of the gains from the previous session, as traders awaited clarity on the Federal Reserve’s plans for rate hikes to gauge the impact on the economy and fuel demand. Fed policymakers say fresh inflation data out later this week will help them decide whether they can slow the pace of interest rate hikes at their upcoming meeting, to just a quarter-point increase instead of the larger jumps they used for most of 2022. Brent futures for March delivery fell 16 cents to $79.49 a barrel, a 0.2% drop, by 1:15 GMT. U.S. crude fell 5 cents, or 0.07%, to $74.58 per barrel.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) on January 9 reported a 10.98 percent increase in its consolidated net profit at ₹10,883 crore for the quarter ended December 2022 (Q3FY23). The company had posted a profit of ₹9,806 crore in the year-ago period. The consolidated revenue from operations came in at ₹58,229 crore, up 19.11 percent against ₹48,885 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. The revenue beat expectations but the profit was below expectations.

The rupee rose 36 paise to close at 82.36 per dollar in the previous session after the greenback weakened. Gains in the equity market also supported the domestic currency. Meanwhile, the dollar traded near a seven-month low against other major currencies on Tuesday as hopes grew stronger that the rate hike cycle was near its end while China reopening bolstered the risk appetite of investors.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) net sold shares worth ₹203.13 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) net bought shares worth ₹1,723.79 crore on January 9, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

Gold prices inched lower on Tuesday as the US dollar witnessed an uptick, with traders largely focusing on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech for insights into the central bank's rate hike path, reported Reuters.