Before Market Opens: 9 things to know at 9 am on July 26, 2022

The S&P 500 see-sawed on Monday and ended close to unchanged as investors girded for an expected rate hike at a Federal Reserve meeting this week and earnings from several large-cap growth companies. The Fed is expected to announce a 75 basis-point rate hike at the end of its two-day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, effectively ending pandemic-era support for the US economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 90.75 points, or 0.28 percent, to 31,990.04, the S&P 500 gained 5.21 points, or 0.13 percent to 3,966.84 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 51.45 points, or 0.43 percent, to 11,782.67.

Shares in the Asia-Pacific were mixed on Tuesday as South Korea’s gross domestic product beat estimates. Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.35 percent and Topix index inched down 0.16 percent. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.17 percent. The Kospi in South Korea was 0.22 percent lower.

At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty was trading 16 points or 0.10 percent lower at 16,602, indicating a negative opening for the Indian markets.

Headline indices the Sensex and the Nifty ended in the red, snapping the winning streak of the last six consecutive sessions as investors turned cautious after the uninspiring quarterly earnings of some heavyweights. Sensex ended 306 points, or 0.55%, lower at 55,766.22 while the Nifty closed the day with a loss of 88 points, or 0.53% at 16,631.

Oil fell, reversing earlier gains but continuing a recent losing streak, on concerns that an expected increase in interest rates in the US, the world's biggest oil user, may limit fuel demand growth. Brent crude futures for September settlement dropped 48 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $102.72 a barrel, down for a fourth day. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for September delivery fell 65 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $94.05 a barrel, also down for the fourth day.

Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, L&T, Tata Power, Union Bank of India, United Spirits, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, UTI Asset Management Company, Apollo Pipes, KEI Industries, PNB Gilts, are some stocks that are likely to announce their June quarter earnings today.

The rupee rose 12 paise to close at 79.74 in the previous session, as per Bloomberg data. Analysts expect the rupee to trade in the range of 79.60-79.95.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net sold shares worth ₹844.78 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net offloaded shares worth ₹72.26 crore on July 25, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

Gold prices inched up in the international markets on dollar's weakness. However, gains were capped as investors awaited the US FOMC outcome.