Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on January 12, 2023

US stocks ended up sharply on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gaining more than 1 percent each as investors were optimistic ahead of an inflation report that could give the Federal Reserve room to dial back on its aggressive interest rate hikes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 268.91 points, or 0.8 percent, to 33,973.01, the S&P 500 gained 50.36 points, or 1.28 percent, to 3,969.61 and the Nasdaq Composite added 189.04 points, or 1.76 percent, to 10,931.67.

Asia-Pacific shares notched gains as investors look ahead to the US consumer price index report Thursday. Economists expect inflation to have cooled in December, which could signal to the Federal Reserve that previous interest rates hikes have had their intended effects. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 traded up 0.59 percent in its first hour of trade. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.22 percent, while the Topix climbed 0.21 percent. Similarly, the Kospi advanced 0.58 percent and the Kosdaq added 0.53 percent.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 52 points or 0.29 percent higher at 18,002, indicating a positive opening for the Indian markets. 

Headline indices the Sensex and the Nifty ended flat on January 11 as gains in shares of HDFC Bank, TCS and ICICI Bank were offset by losses in those of Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Unilever. Sensex closed 10 points, or 0.02 percent, lower at 60,105.50. Nifty50 ended 18 points, or 0.10 percent, lower at 17,895.70.

Oil prices climbed 3 percent to a one-week high on Wednesday as hopes for an improved global economic outlook and concern over the impact of sanctions on Russian crude output outweighed a massive surprise build in US crude stocks. Brent futures rose $2.57, or 3.2 percent, to settle at $82.67 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $2.29, or 3.1 percent, to settle at $77.41. 

The Federal Reserve will likely hike its target interest rate for the last time at its Jan. 31-February 1 monetary policy meeting, raising it by 50 basis points (bps) to a range of 4.75-5.00 percent, HSBC said in a research note on Wednesday. The bank also expects about 50 basis points in rate cuts from the US central bank next year.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) have net-sold shares worth ₹3,208.15 crore, continuing selling for the 14th session in a row, but domestic institutional investors (DII) have managed to offset the FII outflow to a major extent by net-buying shares worth ₹2,430.62 crore on January 11, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

The rupee rose 21 paise to 81.57 per dollar, extending gains into the second session on foreign inflows from bonds selling and positive domestic equities and overall weakness in crude oil prices. However, FII outflows and recovery in greenback ollar capped sharp gains.

Gold traded flat during early Asian hours on January 12 as traders awaited key US inflation data that could influence the Federal Reserve's policy path, reported Reuters.